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HON. JOSEPH WHITE, 

SECRETARY OP THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OP 
MASSACHUSETTS .* 

Your counsel and encouragement led me to give , 
in my college teaching , greater prominence to studies 
adapted to prepare young men to perform their duties 
as citizens of the United States than is usually given 
in our Colleges . In view of that fact , and of your 
zeal and labors in the cause of education and govern¬ 
ment, I beg leave to inscribe to you this effort to aid 
my young countrymen in preparing themselves for 
the work before them. 

Joseph Aldex. 

, jl J 

Li*7mJ 

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■/)3r 

/ S' 7/ 


PEE FACE 


The importance of tlie study of the Science 
of Government in a country wliei i every one lias 
an influence in tlie affairs of government, does 
not need to be argued. Books suitable for its 
study in our educational institutions should be 
furnished. This volume is designed as a text¬ 
book for our higher institutions. It contains, in a 
compact form, the facts and principles which ev¬ 
ery American citizen ought to know. It may be 
made the basis of a brief, or of an extended 
course of instruction, as circumstances may re¬ 
quire. Though primarily designed as a text¬ 
book, the general reader will find every portion 
of it perfectly intelligible. 



















































CONTENTS 


CHAPTER L 

t>AQ« 

Object and Necessity of Government.—Origin of Civil Society. 

—The Social Compact.—Government a Divine Institution. 

—.Justice the Fundamental Law.—Sovereign* Power Vested 
in the People,. 9 

CHAPTER IL 

The Right of Suffrage.—Universal Suffrage.—Limited Suffrage. 

—The True Principle.—An Analogy,.. 16 

CHAPTER IIL 

Liberty and Law.—Different Forms of Government.—Monarchy 
Absolute and Limited.—Hereditary and Elective.—Aris¬ 
tocracy.—Republic,. 21 

CHAPTER IV. 

Theories of Representation.—Representative Instruction.—Re¬ 
lation of Human to Divine Law.—Right of Revolution, .. 28 

CHAPTER V. 

Colonial Governments.—Continental Congress.—Revolutionary 

Government,. 36 

CHAPTER VL 

The Confederation,. 43 

CHAPTER VII. 

Formation of tho Constitution. . 42 









8 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER YIIL 

PAO* 

Adoption of the Constitution,..... VO 

CHAPTER IX. 

The Nature of the Constitution,. VV 

CHAPTER X 

Congress.—House of Representatives,. 85 

CHAPTER XI. 

The Senate,. 96 

CHAPTER XIL 

Powers of Congress,. 115 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Prohibitions on Congress and the States,. 133 

CHAPTER XIY. 

The Executive Department,. 146 

CHAPTER XY. 

The Executive (continued),. 159 

CHAPTER XYL 

The Judicial Department,. 1V2 

CHAPTER XYIL 

Treason.—Citizenship.—Admission of New States.—Amend¬ 
ments,. 190 

CHAPTER XYIIL 

Amendments,. 199 

CHAPTER XIX. 

The Constitutions of the States,. 208 

CHAPTER XX 

International Law,. 220 

CHAPTER XXL 

Different Kinds of Law, . 23 8 
















•THE 


SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT 


CHAPTER I. 

OBJECT AND NECESSITY OF GOVERNMENT—ORIGIN OF CIVIL 

SOCIETY-THE SOCIAL COMPACT-GOVERNMENT A DIVINE 

INSTITUTION-JUSTICE THE FUNDAMENTAL LAW-SOVEREIGN 

POWER VESTED IN THE PEOPLE. 

Government has for its great object the mainten¬ 
ance of justice among men. That men may live 
together in peace, there must be laws restraining 
them from injustice, and protecting them in the enjoy¬ 
ment of their rights. The office of government is to 
make and execute such laws. 

Civil society cannot exist without government. 
By civil society is meant men living together in a 
social civilized state. Men cannot live together in 
such a state without government. Experience shows 
that some men are disposed to do injustice to others, 


J 



10 


TIIE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


and must be restrained by laws. Were there no laws, 
every one could do as he pleased. The wicked could 
defraud, rob, and murder with impunity. Such a 
state of things is called a state of anarchy. 



Civil society is an institution of God—is of divine > 
origin. God made men to live together in a social \ 
civilized state. He gave them a social and moral / 
nature,0 which makes that condition their natural 
condition. He has given man desires and capacities 
which can find exercise only in society. The solitary 
or the savage state is not the natural state of man. 

The social civilized state is necessary to the ful, 
development of man’s physical, intellectual, social, and 
moral nature. The solitary state is an impossibility, 
that is, all men could not lead solitary lives. If the 
attempt were made, the race w T ould become extinct. 
The savage state is possible. Savage tribes do exist, 
but savages are in all respects inferior to civilized 
men. They have not those means of guarding the 
body from disease which civilized men have. Their 
intellectual, social, and moral powers are very imper¬ 
fectly developed. Man’s powers are developed by 
exercise, and the savage state does not furnish the 
conditions of that exercise. It will be admitted that 
God makes nothing in vain. It is as plainly Ilis will 
that man’s nature should be developed, as it is that 
the fruit-tree should grow and bring forth fruit. The 
civilized state alone furnishes the conditions for the 



THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


11 


proper exercise and development of all man’s powers. 
Therefore, God designed that men should live in 
civilized society. 

Civil society, or the State , then, is not a voluntary 
association as some have taught. It did not originate 
in a social compact, that is, in an agreement to 
abandon the solitary and savage state, and to adopt 
the civilized state. Writers on government, and 
legislators, sometimes refer to “ the social compact ” 
as though it were an historical fact. History gives 
no account of “ the social compact.” No one ever 
asserted that such an event ever took place. And yet 
some have referred to this fiction as the ground of our 
obedience to law. 

It is said that by “ the social compact ” men agree 
to relinquish a portion of their natural rights on con¬ 
dition of being protected in the enjoyment of the re¬ 
maining portion, and to render obedience to the laws. 
It is said that their obligation to be subject to the 
restraints of society, is founded on their consent to the 
social compact—the formal consent of the framers 
^ of the compact, and the tacit consent of all succeeding 
generations. 

Nov/, as no such compact was ever formed, it can¬ 
not be the ground of any obligation whatever. The 
fundamental laws of civil society—the laws or rules 
of justice, do not owe their authority to the consent 
of the governed. 


12 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


Men become members of civil society—of the 
State—by the act of God. He created man a social 
being and a subject of law. Men have no right to 
abjure society, throw off its restraints, and lead soli¬ 
tary lives. l^No man has a right to be a brute, or any 
thing but a man. In order to be a man, he must be 
a member of society and subject to law. 

Suppose all men were to meet together in one vast 
convention, and to vote unanimously to abolish so¬ 
ciety, and government, and law of every kind : would 
such a vote have any authority ? Certainly not. Tho 
obligation to live in society and have government, 
would not be affected by such a vote, or by any thing 
that men can do. God’s will does not depend upon 
the wills of men. It is plainly his will that men 
should live together and enjoy the benefits resulting 
from obedience to righteous laws. 

The State may be considered apart from govern¬ 
ment, though they usually coexist. They always co¬ 
exist, except in those rare periods when anarchy pre¬ 
vails. Government is the agent by which the State 
ordinarily acts. The State performs extraordinary 
acts when it abolishes one form of government, and 
institutes another. The acts of the State by which 
governments are made and unmade, are termed acts 
of original sovereignty. - 

Government is a divine institution—is of divine 
origin. This appears from the fact that tbe State is a 



THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


13 


divine institution, and is under obligation to have gov* 
ernment. God is the author of man’s nature. The 
State is the necessary result of man’s nature.* Gov¬ 
ernment is the necessary result of the State. There¬ 
fore government is of God. “ The powers that be,” 
that is, the legitimate powers of government, “ are 
ordained of God ” (Rom. xiii. 1). God is the author 
of government, just as He is the author of the forest 
that clothes the mountain’s side. The one is the result 
of His moral laws, the other is the result of His physi¬ 
cal laws. 

Justice is the fundamental idea of the State. All 
its regulations should be but the applications of the 
principle of justice. In other words, all its rules 
should be just rules. If all men would practise jus¬ 
tice, they could live together in peace without a legal 
code. That men should do that which is just is a 
self-evident truth. As the State is under obligation 
to secure justice to its members, it is under obligation 
to use the means best adapted to secure that end. 
Government is a necessary means of securing justice, 
hence again we see that the State is under obligation 
to have government. In other words, government is 
necessary in order that man may be such a being as 
T God designed he should be. 

The sovereign, or supreme power, resides in the 
State, not in the government. Government derives 
its powers from the State. The power of the State is 


14 


T&E SCIENCE OF G0VEHEMENT. 


limited by its fundamental law—the law of justice. 
The State has no rightful power to form an unjust 
government, or to perform any unjust act. 

The State gives to government its powers. It is 
under obligation to give to it such powers as are best 
adapted to enable it to subserve the ends of justice 
and public prosperity. 

The sovereign, or supreme power, belongs to the 
State, that is, to the people who constitute the State. 
The sovereign power belongs to the people, not in 
their individual, but in their collective capacity. The 
State possessing sovereign power may have a million 
members. It does not follow that each individual 
possesses one-millionth part of the sovereign power, 
or is thereby constituted the one-millionth part of a 
sovereign. 

The relation of individuals in the State to the sov¬ 
ereign power may be illustrated by a joint stock com¬ 
pany. An insurance company has power to make 
contracts for insurance. Suppose there are ten mem¬ 
bers. They, or a majority of them acting as a com¬ 
pany, can make a contract, or authorize their agents 
to do so; but one of their number cannot make one- 
tenth part of a contract. The whole power of the 
company belongs to the ten members (not of necessity 
equally), but the whole power cannot be divided into 
ten parts, each part being wielded separately by 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


15 


individuals. Such a course of proceeding would de¬ 
feat the end for which the company was formed. 

In like manner the whole power of the State be¬ 
longs to the members of the State—the individuals 
composing the State; but this power is not divisible 
among those individuals, to be wielded separately by 
each. Such a course of proceeding, were it possible, 
would defeat the ends for which the State exists. 


CHAPTER IL 


THE EIGHT OF SUFFRAGE—UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE—LIMITED SUP' 
FRAGE—THE TRUE PRINCIPLE—AN ANALOGY. 

The State, as we have seen, is under obligation to 
appoint an agency, viz., government, to wield a portion 
of its power. Has every member of the State a voice 
in designating those who shall exercise the powers of 
government; in other words, has every one a right to 
vote for those who shall rule over them ? 

Some think that the right to vote is an attribute 
of humanity—that every one has a right to vote be¬ 
cause he is a man. This is denied by others; hence 
the burden of proof rests on those who make the af¬ 
firmation. They have no right to assume it as a self- 
evident truth. 

If the right to vote be an attribute of humanity, 
then women have a right to vote as well as men. 

It is said by some, tjiat as every man is bound to 
render obedience to the law, every man should have 
a voice in choosing those who make the laws. It is 


17 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


assumed that a man cannot rightfully be held subject 
to the laws, unless he lias given his consent to them 
by taking part in choosii|g the law-makers. 

In reply to this it is\said, that man was created 
a subject of law. He is Subject to the law of recti¬ 
tude. His consent is not |sked. He is bom into the 
State, and is subject to its fundamental law—the law 
of justice. His consent is j 
well object to being born’ 
object to being subject to righteous laws without his 
consent. 

If none are rightfully si bject to the laws except 
those who have given their lonsent to them by voting 
for rulers, then women are not rightfully subject to 
the lawliv ^ - Tjt 

Others think that the right to vote f^-not an attri¬ 
bute of humanity. They think that the question as 


Lot asked. A man may as 
ithout his consent, as to 


to who shall vote depends upon circumstances which 
vary with time and place. They reason thus: The 
State is under obligation to have the best government 
possible. Hence the State, that is, the people, are 
under obligation to use the means best adapted to se¬ 
cure the best government possible. Among the means 
to be used is the choice of good rulers. Such a course 
should be taken in choosing them as is best adapted 
to the end sought, viz., good rulers. If universal suf¬ 
frage will secure the best rulers, then universal suf¬ 
frage ought to prevail. If a restricted suffrage will 



18 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


secure the best rulers, then a restricted suffrage ought 
to prevail. 

If the decision be in favor of a restricted suffrage, 
the same principle would determine the nature of the 
restrictions. If limiting suffrage to those who possess 
a certain amount of property will secure the best 
rulers, then that limitation should take place. It is 
for the interest of the man who is destitute of prop¬ 
erty, as much as it is for the interest of the man pos¬ 
sessed of property, that the best rulers should be se¬ 
cured. 

The advocates of a property qualification do not 
contend that the possession of property makes a man 
more intelligent or more patriotic. He has a deepei 
interest in having a good government than he who has 
nothing to lose. He has an interest in having prop¬ 
erty secure, taxes light, and justice administered be¬ 
tween man and man. Men are strongly influenced by 
their interests. 

It has been proposed that those only should vote 
who can read and write. If such a provision would 
secure the choice of better rulers than would other¬ 
wise be chosen, it should be adopted. It ought not, 
however, to be taken for granted that the mere abil¬ 
ity to read and write will qualify one intellectually 
and morally to perform' so important an act as that of 
selecting men to make and execute the laws, upon 
which the prosperity of a nation in a great measure 
depends. 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


10 


Suppose there is a ship at sea with five hundred 
passengers on board. A storm sweeps the captain 
and all the officers overboard. Some one must take 
command of the ship, or all on board will be lost, lie 
must have a knowledge of navigation, and the nerve 
requisite for command. There are a few persons on 
board capable of forming a correct opinion respecting 
a man’s knowledge of navigation, and his abilities to 
manage the ship. The great majority have no capa¬ 
city for forming such an opinion. Who shall choose 
the captain, the intelligent few or the ignorant many ? 
Would it not be for the interest of all on board that 
he be chosen by those capable of judging as to his 
qualifications ? 

The majority may say, “We have as much interest 
in the safety of the ship as those to whom it is pro¬ 
posed to limit the choice: our lives are as dear to us 
as theirs are to them.” These assertions would doubt¬ 
less be true, but it would not follow that all should 
vote in the choice of a captain. The adoption of a 
course adapted to promote the highest safety of all, 
would not deprive the majority of any right. 

There is some analogy between the supposed ship 
and the ship of State. It is for the interest of all 
that the best rulers be chosen. The adoption of a 
course the best adapted to secure that end would not 
infringe upon the rights of any. Every man has a 
right to be governed justly, but it does not follow 
that every man has a right to be a governor. ' 


20 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


In the earlier periods of our history, the elective 
franchise was limited in all the Colonies and States. 
Soon after the adoption of the Federal Constitution, 
the tendency set toward universal suffrage. One State 
after another adopted it as they revised their constitu¬ 
tions, till no w the right of suffrage is possessed by 
every white citizen of the United States 


.i 




/ 


CHAPTER m. 

LIBERTY AND LAW—DIFFERENT FORMS OF GOVERNMENT—MON¬ 
ARCHY ABSOLUTE AND LIMITED—HEREDITARY AND ELECTIVE 

—ARISTOCRACY-REPUBLIC. 

Justice is the great end of government. Let jus¬ 
tice be perfectly administered to a people, and all the 
conditions of national prosperity will follow, at least 
all that depend on the action of the government. To 
say that the great end of the government is to secure 
justice, is to say, in other words., that the great end 
of government is to secure liberty. 

Liberty is the result of law—not as many suppose, 
of the absence of law. Many suppose that men are 
free only in proportion as they are without restraint. 
They suppose that so far as men are under law, they 
are without liberty. They suppose that men relin¬ 
quish a portion of their natural liberty in consequence 
of becoming members of the State and subjects of 
law. 

We have seen that men are born members of the 


22 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


State and subjects of law, and hence they never had 
any rights the result of not being subjects of law. It 
is true that a man in society is restrained from doing 
some things which he would be at liberty to do if he 
were a solitary being. But he was not created a soli¬ 
tary being, and hence has none of the natural rights 
of a solitary being. Hence he cannot relinquish the 
natural rights of a solitary being. The fish cannot 
claim that he relinquishes the right to'fly in the air in 
order that he may swim in the water. Man cannot 
claim that he relinquishes the freedom of the solitary 
and the savage state, in order that he may become a 
civilized man. 

Law secures, or is intended to secure, to a man 
all the liberty he can rightfully claim. He cannot 
claim liberty to live under water or to take poison. 
If the law forbids him to live under water or to 
destroy himself by taking poison, it does not thereby 
restrain his liberty. He was not made to live under 
water nor to take poison. The law forbids, him to 
murder, but that does not abridge his liberty. He 
never had a right to murder. He cannot claim liberty 
to do wrong. So far as the law restrains him from 
doing wrong, it does not interfere with his liberty. 
So far as the law restrains him from doing what a be¬ 
ing made to live in society ought not to do, it does 
not interfere with his liberty. So long as it does not 
interfere with his rights, it does not interfere with his 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


23 


liberty. He has no right to do that which is incon¬ 
sistent with the welfare of society. 

Every one has a right to claim protection from 
wrong doing on the part of others. The law which 
forbids wrong doing, furnishes this protection, if it bo 
properly enforced. Security against wrong is an essen 
tial element of civil liberty. Sir James Mackintosh’s 
definition of liberty is “ security against wrong.” 

No man can claim the right to do wrong. He can 
claim freedom to do right. Now, if he is permitted to 
do right in all things, and is restrained only from do¬ 
ing wrong, and is protected from wrong doing on the 
part of others, he has all the liberty he can ask. 

A perfectly just and wise system of laws would 
forbid every thing that is unjust in society—every 
thing socially wrong, and would permit every thing 
just in society—every thing socially right. If such 
a system were carried into perfect execution, it would 
furnish perfect security against wrong, and perfect 
liberty to do right. The perfection of law would thus 
secure the perfection of liberty. 

Liberty does not, as some suppose, consist in the 
privilege of self-government, nor is it necessarily the 
result of the privilege of self-government. Men hav¬ 
ing the privilege of self-government may govern them 
selves very badly. They may make unwise and un¬ 
just laws. Liberty, as we have seen, is the result of 
wise and just laws faithfully executed. 


24 


THE SCIENCE OE GOVERNMENT. 


A despotic government may make and execute 
wise and just laws. If this were done, men would for 
the time being enjoy liberty. It may be asked, can a 
government be a despotic and a free government at 
the same time ? Certainly not. A transient bestowal 
of liberty by a despotic government does not make 
that government a free government, any more than 
transient acts of charity by a miser make that miser 
a man of benevolence. In the case supposed, there is 
no security for the continuance of liberty. Security 
against wrong, and not the transient absence of wrong, 
is essential to liberty. 

Government is a means to an end. There are dif¬ 
ferent kinds of governments. That is the best govern¬ 
ment which is best adapted to secure the ends for 
which government is instituted. In determining what 
kind of government is best for a particular nation, the 
condition and circumstances of that nation should be 
carefully observed. The best form of government 
for the United States would not be the best form for 
Caffraria. 

The different forms of government are classed un¬ 
der three heads, viz., Monarchy, Aristocracy, and Re¬ 
public. 

A monarchy is government by a single person. 
“ Monarch,” says Worcester, “ is a general term for 
one having sole authority, and is applied to the ruler of 
an absolute or limited monarchy, and he maybe styled 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


25 


a sovereign or potentate, and may have different titles. 
The following are the titles of the different monarchs 
of Europe: jEmperor, Czar, or Sultan, the ruler of an 
empire; King or Queen , of a "kingdom; Prince of a 
principality; Grand Duke, of a grand duchy; Puke, 
of duchy; and Pope, of the popedom.” 

Monarchies are absolute and limited. In an abso¬ 
lute monarchy all power is possessed by the monarch. 
His will is the sole law. An absolute monarchy and 
a despotism are the same. 

An absolute monarchy, if the monarch be an able 
man, is a very efficient government. The power of a 
country can be more efficiently wielded by one mind 
than by many. Unity of counsel and promptness of 
decision cannot always be secured when several minds 
must act in concert. Republics have sometimes found 
it necessary to create a temporary dictator, that is, to 
clothe an officer with absolute power. The Roman 
republic had frequent recourse to this expedient in 
times of great public danger. For a time, during the 
war of the Revolution, Washington was made a dir 
tator in reality though not in name. 

The absolute mqnarch is generally a tyrant. 
Men are too imperfect to be trusted with absolute 
power. 

In a limited monarchy, the power of the monarch 
is limited by the constitution and laws. A constitu¬ 
tion is a fundamental law defining and limiting the 
2 


26 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


powers of the government, to which law all othei 
laws must be conformed. A constitution may be a 
written document, or it may consist of established 
usages. The constitution of Great Britain consists of 
established usages, yet its provisions are as well 
known as those of the constitution' of the United 
States. In the limited monarchies of Europe, the 
powers of the monarch are, for the most part, as 
clearly defined as are those of the President of the 
United States. 

Monarchies are hereditary and elective. All the 
monarchies of Christendom have adopted the hered¬ 
itary principle. The oldest surviving son or nearest 
heir succeeds to the crown as soon as the monarch 
dies. It is a maxim of the British constitution that 
#he king never dies.” This means that the throne 
tx never vacant. The moment the occupant dies, his 
heir is clothed with all the authority pertaining to 
the throne. In some countries, females are excluded 
from the succession. 

An hereditary is preferable to an elective mon¬ 
archy. It is true that, on the hereditary principle, an 
incompetent or vicious person may succeed to the 
throne. Experience has shown that the attendant 
evils are less than those connected with an election. ! 

Aristocracy “ is a form of government which places 
the supreme power in the nobles or principal persons 
of the State.” The uniform testimony of history 


THE SCIENCE OP GOVERNMENT. 


27 


declares the aristocratical form of government to be 
the worst form. 

A republic is “ that form of government in which 
the supreme power is vested in the people, or in 
representatives elected by the people.” When the 
power is directly exercised by the people, the govern¬ 
ment is called a democracy. A pure democracy can 
exist only in a country of limited territorial extent. Tho 
colony of Plymouth was, for a time, a pure democracy. 
All the freemen met together to make laws. A law 
enacted in 1G36 imposed a fine of three shillings ster¬ 
ling on every one failing to attend election, “ without 
due excuse.” When the population became so widely 
extended that it was inconvenient to meet in one 
body, the representative system was adopted. 

In some of the governments of Christendom, the 
three forms above noticed are more or less blended. 
The English government is a limited monarchy, but 
in the House of Lords it has the aristocratical, and in 
the House of Commons the republican element. In 
that government, the power of the republican element 
has been gradually increasing. 


CHAPTER IV. 


niBto. IES OF REPRESENTATION—REPRESENTATIVE INSTRUCTION— 
RELATION OF HUMAN TO DIVINE LAW-RIGHT OF REVOLUTION. 

In a republic, the people elect representatives who 
make their laws. There are two theories of repre¬ 
sentation. The first, and commonly received theory, 
regards representation as a mere matter of con¬ 
venience. It teaches that representatives are elected 
by the people because it is not convenient for them to 
meet in a body and make the laws. 

The doctrine of representative instruction, which 
teaches that the representative is in all things to obey 
the will of his constituents, that he is to vote not 
according to his own judgment but according to the 
instructions of liis constituents, is a logical inference 
from this theory of representation. If the representa¬ 
tive is elected to do what the people would do, if it 
were convenient for them to assemble, then he is to do 
what the people tell him to do. 

It is objected to this doctrine that it makes the 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVEKNMENT. 


29 


representative a mere automaton to register the 
decrees of a majority of his constituents. Suppose an 
important question comes before Congress relating to 
foreign affairs. A majority of his constituents wish him 
to vote for a measure which, from his superior means 
of information, he knows would be disastrous to the 
country. Now, if the representative must obey the 
will of his constituents, he must act contrary to his 
own judgment, and commit an act of folly, perhaps 
of wickedness. Though he have the capacity of John 
Marshall or of Daniel Webster, he must yield his 
convictions, the result of careful investigation and 
profound thought, to the wills of men influenced, 
it may be, by their prejudices or led by a crafty 
demagogue. 

It may be asked, Ought not the will of the peo¬ 
ple to be obeyed ? The will of the people should be 
obeyed when it is wise and right and constitutionally 
expressed. The people can act authoritatively in gov*' 
ernment matters, in this country at least, only by 
means of the ballot-box. 

The people are not infallible. No individual is in¬ 
fallible. Hence no collection of individuals can be 
infallible. The voice of the people is not the voico 
of God. Many of the provisions of government are 
designed to prevent the hasty execution of the popu¬ 
lar will—are designed to give an opportunity for that 
“sober second thought” which is more nearly allied 


so 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


to wisdom. The doctrine of representative instruc¬ 
tion goes far toward nullifying these provisions. 

Another theory of representation regards the rep¬ 
resentative as a professional agent, who is chosen to 
do certain things according to his best ability; chosen 
to do them on account of his ability. The people are 
under obligation to have good laws. Hence they are 
under obligation to use the means best adapted to 
that end. Hence they select good and wise men to 
make their laws. They select them that they may 
have the benefit of their superior wisdom. Of course 
they must be allowed to exercise that wisdom unfet¬ 
tered by instructions. They should be restrained only 
by the constitution and the laws made in accordance 
with the constitution. 

The duties of a legislator should be prescribed by 
the constitution, not by the leaders of a party, or by 
a majority under the control of said leaders. The 
representative should conform to the wishes of his 
constituents, so far as he can do so consistently wjth 
fidelity to their interests and those of the country. 
A desire to please them should not cause him to neg¬ 
lect the duties he was chosen to perform. 

A constitution is the fundamental law which de¬ 
termines the form of the government, and defines its 
powers. A State performs an original act of sov¬ 
ereignty when it establishes or abolishes a constitu¬ 
tion. If a constitution comes in conflict with justice 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


31 


the grand constitutional law of the universe, it is null 
and void. The State cannot frame injustice into a 
fundamental law. 

The powers of the government are limited b^ 
the constitution. The government can do that only 
which the constitution authorizes it to do. The legis 
lature has no power to make a law contrary to the 
constitution. A law so made would possess no au¬ 
thority. It would be declared null and void by the 
tribunal authorized to do so by the constitution. 

No individual is authorized to say, This law is 
unconstitutional and therefore not binding; I will not 
obey it. He is under obligation to obey every law 
(excepting those contrary to the law of God) until the 
authorized tribunal has decided that it is unconstitu¬ 
tional. Then it is null and void. 

Government cannot rightfully do any thing con¬ 
trary to the constitution, even though all the people 
were to desire it. The will of the people is supreme 
only when it is right and constitutionally expressed. 
The people can change their constitution, but only in 
the mode pointed out by the constitution. 

Constitutions should not be changed for slight 
causes. It is better to suffer some inconveniences than 

to lessen, by frequent changes, the reverence felt for 

«• 

the constitution. If constitutions could be changed 
as easily as ordinary laws, they would have no mor« 
value than ordinary laws. 


32 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


Constitutional law is the highest human law. Th« 
law of God is higher than all human law. If any part 
of the constitution, or if any law made in pursuance 
thereof, is contrary to the law of God, it is null and 
void. “We ought to obey God rather than men” 
(Acts v. 29). Government or the law can render that 
obligatory which was not previously obligatory, but it 
cannot change moral distinctions. It cannot authorize 
one to do wrong. It cannot nullify the law of God. 

Questions relating to a conflict of the law of the 
land with the law of God, must be decided by each 
one for himself. There is no divinely authorized tribu¬ 
nal for the decision of such questions. “ Every one of 
us shall give account of himself unto God” (Rom. xiv. 
12). He must learn his duty for himself and do it. 
He must avail himself of all the assistance within hig 
reach, bat he must decide for himself. He cannot 
tbrovr the responsibility of decision on the church or 
on the government. 

This will not, as some suppose, lead to anarchy. 
Some think that, for every one to decide for himself 
whether a law is contrary to the divine law or not, 
and to obey or disobey according to his decision, is to 
make obedience to law optional. One man, say they, 
will regard one law as conflicting with the diviue 
law, and another will regard another law as conflict' 
ing. Thus every one will do that which is right in 
his own eyes. 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 3# 

No such consequences will follow the proper exen 
cise of the right of private judgment in regard to du 
ties connected with obedience to law. Suppose the 
question to arise, Does this law come in conflict with 
the law of God? does it enjoin what God has for¬ 
bidden ? I.’ the conscientious man, on full considera¬ 
tion, comes to the conclusion that the law does en¬ 
join what God has forbidden, he will not obey it, but 
he will submit without resistance to the penalty at¬ 
tached to disobedience. He thus does not set the law 
at defiance. He yields a passive obedience by sub¬ 
mitting to the penalty. When every law is thus 
‘obeyed, either actively or passively, there is no danger 
of anarchy. 

Governments originating in fraud or violence may 
become legitimate, and may rightfully claim obe¬ 
dience. When they have become established and ful¬ 
fil the ends of government as well as any government 
which it might be possible to establish, it is the duty 
of the people to obey those governments. It is cer¬ 
tainly their duty to obey the government they are 
under, till they can lawfully establish a better one in 
its place. A government may have no right to com¬ 
mand, and yet it may be the duty of the people to 
obey till there is a fair prospect that they can over¬ 
throw the government, and substitute a better one in 
its place, with less suffering than continued obedience 
would occasion. 

2 * 


34 


THE SCIENCE OF GOYEKNMENT. 


Every act of injustice on the part of the govern* 
rnent does not absolve the citizen from his obligation 
to obedience. Every act of oppression does not justify 
forcible resistance to the government. There is a 
right of revolution; that is, there are times when it is 
right for a people to forcibly overthrow the govern- 
ment. These times cannot be accurately defined. The 
exact amount of oppression which justifies a revolution 
cannot be gauged and measured. It must be wellnigh 
intolerable, and there must be a fair prospect that a 
revolution will be successful. No amount of oppres¬ 
sion would justify an attempt at revolution when there 
was no prospect of success. The attempt would only 
occasion greater suffering. The worst kind of govern¬ 
ment is better than anarchy; that is, the worst kind 
of government is better than no government. Anarchy 
is always followed by military despotism. 


CHAPTER V. 


COLONIAL GOVFKNMENTS—CONTINENTAL CONGRESS—REVOLU¬ 
TIONARY GOVERNMENT. 

The colonial governments had a powerful influence 
in educating the American people for self-government. 

The first representative Legislature in America sat 
in Virginia in 1619. Up to that time the people of 
that colony were governed by a governor and council 
Appointed by the crown. As subjects of the king, 
tnd entitled to all the privileges of British subjects, 
they claimed the right to be represented in the govern¬ 
ment. The governor, Sir George Yeardly, called a 
general assembly of the representatives of the various 
plantations, and permitted them to act as a legislature. 

The Pilgrim Fathers, while on board the May 
Flower, at Cape Cod, drew up the following compact 
“In the name of God, amen. We whose names are 
underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign 
lord King James, by the grace of God of Great Britain, 
France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. 
Having undertaken, for the glory of God and the ad 


86 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


vancement of the Christian faith, and the honor of ouj 
king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony 
in the northern parts of Virginia, do, by these pres- 
ents, solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God 
and one another, covenant and combine ourselves to¬ 
gether into a civil body politic, for our better ordering 
and preservation, and furtherance of the ends afore 
said; and by virtue hereof, do enact, constitute, and 
frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, con¬ 
stitutions, and officers, from time to time, as shall be 
thought most meet and convenient for the general 
good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due 
submission and obedience. In witness whereof, we 
have hereunto subscribed our names, at Cape Cod, the 
eleventh of November, in the reign of our sovereign 
lord King James,' of England, France, and Ireland 
the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, Anno 
Dom. 1620.” 

This was signed by John Carver, William Bradford, 
Edward Winslow, William Brewster, Isaac Allenton, 
Miles Standish, John Alden, and thirty-four others. 

TJnder this compact they elected a governor and 
an assistant annually. Subsequently the number of 
assistants was increased to seven. “The supreme 
legislative power resided in and was exercised by the 
whole body of the male inhabitants, every freeman, 
who was a member ot the church, being admitted ta 
vote in all public affairs.” This continued till lG2ii 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVEKNMENT. 


37 


when the settlements had become so widely extended 
that it was inconvenient for the people to assemble for 
purposes of legislation. The representative system 
was then adopted. 

They thus continued to govern themselves till 
1 1G84, when an arbitrary government was established 
over them, in common with the other New England 
colonies. In 1691, the colony of Plymouth was joined 
to that of Massachusetts by the charter granted by 
William and Mary. 

The colony of Massachusetts was planted under 
the auspices of a corporation or company in England. 
This company had power to elect a governor, and 
make rules for the regulation of the colony. Thus the 
government of the colony was in England. It was 
ere long agreed that the powers of the company should 
be transferred to the colony. Accordingly such per¬ 
sons as it was known designed to emigrate to the 
colony, were chosen officers. The charter provided, 
that the government should be administered by a 
Governor, Deputy Governor, and eighteen assistants, 
elected out of the freemen of the company. By free¬ 
men of the company were meant the members of the 
company. Full legislative authority was given by 
rthe charter, only the laws passed must not be contrary 
to the laws of England. 

The officers chosen as above noticed came to 
America and brought th' charter with them. Thus 


I 


S8 THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT, 

the colony of Massachusetts possessed the power to 
elect all its rulers and to legislate in regard to aL 
matters, provided the legislation was not contrary to 
that of England. 

The governments of all the colonies were similar 
in that each had a governor, a council which consti¬ 
tuted the upper house of the legislature, and a lower 
house elected by the people. There were, however, 
differences in their organization so great that Black- 
stone divided them into three classes, the Provincial, 
^the Proprietary, and the Charter Governments. 

In the Provincial Governments, the king appointed 
the governor, and gave him his instructions or powers. 
The king also appointed a council to assist the gov¬ 
ernor and to form the upper house of a legislature, 
when the governor summoned an assembly of represent¬ 
atives of the freeholders and planters. The governor 
had a negative on all the proceedings of the legisla¬ 
ture, and could prorogue or dissolve them at pleasure. 
The legislature had authority to make local laws not 
contrary to the laws of England. All such laws were 
subject to ratification or disapproval by the crown. 
The governor and council had power to establish 
courts and appoint judges, to raise troops for defence, 
and to exercise martial law in time of invasion, war, 
and rebellion. All real power was thus in the hands 
of the king, or of those holding office at his will. 

The Proprietary Governments differed from the 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


39 


provincial chiefly in this, that the proprietary susi 
tained toward the government and people a relation 
similar to that of the king in the provincial govern¬ 
ments. The governor was appointed by the proprie¬ 
tary, and the legislatures assembled under his au¬ 
thority. 

In short, the proprietary exercised most of the 
powers which in the provincial governments belonged 
to the crown. 

The Charter Governments were those whose form 
and powers were defined by the charters granted by 
the king. A charter was to a colonial government, 
what a constitution is to a state government. In the 
original structure of the charters of the early colonies, 
no provision was made for a legislative body; but the 
colonists, claiming all the rights and privileges of 
Englishmen, insisted on being represented in the 
government. The consequence was, that in every 
colony there was a legislature modelled upon that of 
the mother country. 

It is true that in many cases the actual po wci 
possessed by the people, or their representatives, was 
very small. The English government did not know 
that the forms of liberty • would bring the reality. 
The people were rendered familiar with elections, and 
with legislative and judicial proceedings. Hence, 
when the authority of the king was thrown olf, they 
were prepared at once to replace such portions of the 


iO THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 

machinery of government as were removed by that 
act. Hence there was no interregnum—no anarchy, 
Had it been the design of the English ministers to 
trail the colonists to the exercise of independence, the^ 
could not have chosen a better course than the one 
pursued. 

The colonies were separate and independent of 
each other. They were united only in a common 
relation to the crown and mother country. Still, they 
were in many respects one people, and prepared to be¬ 
come so in ah respects. Being fellow-subjects of the- 
king, each colonist could inhabit every other colony, 
and inherit property in every other colony. 

As the colonists were entitled to all the privileges 
of Englishmen, they insisted that they could not be 
taxed without their consent—that taxes must be laid 
by the colonial assemblies. The denial of the power 
of taxation to parliament soon led to the denial of ah 
power to legislate for the colonies. Massachusetts led 
the way in denying that parliament had any power 
over the colonies. Allegiance to the crown was ad¬ 
mitted : subjection to parliament denied. 

On the other hand, parliament claimed supreme 
power over the colonies, and proceeded to exercise 
that power by passing laws for raising a revenue in 
the colonies. A stamp act was passed. It required 
the colonist to use stamped paper for all legal docu¬ 
ments. Stamped paper could be bought of lh<i gov 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


41 


ermnent only. The act created great excitement 
among the colonists, and was soon repealed. 

The attempt made to raise a revenue by imposing 
duties on articles imported, met with similar and even 
more determined opposition. Remonstrances and ap¬ 
peals to the king and parliament being without effect, 
Massachusetts recommended the assembling of a Con¬ 
tinental Congress to deliberate on the state of affairs. 
The recommendation was adopted by the colonies. 
Delegates were chosen in some cases by the lower 
houses of the legislatures, and in other cases by con¬ 
ventions of the people. This congress met in Phila¬ 
delphia Sept. 4, 1774. In this congress a rule was 
adopted which was adhered to till the adoption of the 
Federal Constitution. The rule gave to each colony 
one vote on questions coming before congress. This 
congress adopted a Declaration of Rights, and ad¬ 
dresses to the people of England and of the neighbor¬ 
ing colonies, and to the king, setting forth their griev¬ 
ances and claims for redress. 

A second congress assembled in May, 1775. The 
delegates were chosen partly by the popular branches 
of the legislatures and partly by conventions of the 
people. 

This congress took measures for raising an army, 
and appointed Washington commander-in-chief. They 
authorized the emission of two million dollars in bills 
of credit, and published a solemn declaration of tha 


42 THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 

causes of their taking up arms, an address to the king 
and an address to the people of Great Britain. On 
July 4, 177G, they declared independence of Great 
Britain. 

From this time, if not before, Congress assumed 
the powers of a national government by the general 
consent of the people of the colonies. It assumed 
power to declare war and make peace, to authorize 
captures, to control military and naval operations, to 
form alliances and make treaties, to contract debt and 
to issue bills of credit on the faith of the nation. 

It is true that the acts of Congress for the most 
part were in the form of recommendations, yet they 
had all the authority of laws. 

This government by the Continental Congress has 
been called the Revolutionary government, in distinc¬ 
tion from the government of the Confederation. Till 
the articles of confederation were adopted, the Con¬ 
tinental Congress exercised the powers of a national 
government. 


CHAPTER VL 


THE flONFEDEEATION, 

Our revolutionary fathers intended to form a gov- 
ernment for the United States, as soon as they had 
declared them to he independent of Great Britain, 
On the 11th day of June, 1776, the day on which the 
committee for preparing the Declaration of Independ¬ 
ence was appointed, Congress appointed a committee 
to prepare and digest a form of Confederation to be 
entered into by the colonies about to become inde¬ 
pendent States. This committee consisted of one 
member from each colony. 

In about a month the committee reported a draft 
which was debated for several days, and on the 20th 
of August, Congress, in committee of the whole, re¬ 
ported a new draft, which was ordered to be printed 
for the use of the members. When the articles of 
Confederation were agreed upon in Congres-s, a cir. 
cular was addressed to the legislatures of the sev¬ 
eral States, requesting them to authorize their dele- 


44 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


gates iii Congress to subscribe to the Articles of 
Confederation in behalf of the States. The articles 
were not to be binding till they were ratified by all 
the States. This ratification did not take place till 
March, 1781, nearly five years after the Declaration 
of Independence. 

The articles were called “Articles of Confedera¬ 
tion and Perpetual Union between the States.” It 
was not designed to form a national government, but 
a league of friendship. The second article declares, 
“ Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom, and inde¬ 
pendence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right 
which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated 
to the United States in Congress assembled ; ” and the 
third article, “ The said States hereby severally entei 
into a firm league of friendship with each other, for 
their common defence, the security of their liberties, 
and their mutual and general welfare.” 

Thus it appears that the Confederation was de¬ 
signed to be merely a league between the States, and 
not a national government. 

Provision was made for a Congress as follows: 

“ For the more convenient management of the gen¬ 
eral interests of the United States, delegates shall be 
annually appointed in such manner as the legislature 
of each State shall direct, to meet in Congress on the 
first Monday in November in every year, with a 
power reserved to each State to recall its delegates, 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


45 


or any of them, at any time within the year, and to 
send others in their stead for the remainder of the 
> year. 

“ No State shall be represented in Congress by less 
than two, nor by more than seven members, and no 
person shall be capable of being a delegate for more 
than three years in any term of six years; nor shall 
any person, being a delegate, be capable of holding 
any office under the United States, for which he, or 
another for his benefit, receives any salary, fees, or 
emoluments of any kind. 

“ Each State shall maintain its own delegates in a 
meeting of the States, and while they act as members 
of the committee of the States. 

“In determining questions in the United States in 
Congress assembled, each State shall have one vote.” 

It will be observed that the Congress of the Con¬ 
federation, like the Revolutionary Congress, consisted 
of only one House; that the members were chosen by 
the legislatures of the States; that they were chosen 
for a year, but might be recalled at any time if the 
legislature saw fit to do so; that the salaries of the 
members were paid by the States appointing them 
and that the method of voting was by States—each 
State having one vote. A majority of the delegates 
from a State determined the vote of that State. If 
they were evenly divided on a question, the vote of 
the State was lost. 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


40 


The States were upon a footing of perfect equality 
Delaware had in Congress as much power as Penn¬ 
sylvania or Virginia. 

The following were the principal powers possessed 
by Congress: “ The United States in Congress assem 
bled shall have the sole and exclusive right and power 
of determining on peace or war, except in the cases 
mentioned in the sixth article; of sending and receiv¬ 
ing ambassadors; entering into treaties and alliances, 
provided that no treaty of commerce shall be made, 
whereby the legislative power of the respective States 
shall be restrained from imposing such imposts and 
duties on foreigners as their own people are subjected 
to, or from prohibiting the exportation or importation 
of any species of goods or commodities whatever; of 
establishing rules for deciding, in all cases, what cap¬ 
tures on land or water shall be legal, and in what 
manner prizes taken by land or naval forces, in the 
service of the United States, shall be divided or ap¬ 
propriated; of granting letters of marque and reprisal 
in times of peace; appointing courts for the trial of 
piracies and felonies committed on the high seas; 
and establishing courts for receiving and determining 
finally appeals in all cases of capture, provided that 
no member of Congress shall be appointed a judge of 
any of the said courts. 

“The United States in Congress assembled shall 
also have the sole and exclusive right and power of 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


47 


regulating the alloy and value of coin struck by their 
own authority, or by that of the respective States j 
fixing the standard of weights and measures through¬ 
out the United States; regulating the trade and man 
aging all affairs with the Indians, not members of any 
of the States, provided that the legislative right of 
any State within its own limits be not infringed or 
violated ; establishing and regulating post-offices from 
one State to another throughout all the United States, 
and exacting such postage on the papers passing 
through the same as may be sufficient to defray the ex 
penses of said office; appointing all the officers of the 
land forces in the service of the United States, except¬ 
ing regimental officers; appointing all the officers of the 
naval forces and commissioning all officers whatever 
in the service of the United States ; making rules for 
the government and regulation of the land and naval 
forces, and directing their operations ; to appoint one 
of their number to preside, provided that no person 
be allowed to serve in the office of President more 
than one year in any term of three years; to ascer¬ 
tain the sums of money to be raised for the service of 
the United States, and to appropriate and apply the 
same for defraying the public expenses; to borrow 
money or emit bills of credit of the United States, trans¬ 
mitting every half year to the respective States an ac¬ 
count of the sums of money so borrowed or emitted ; 
to build and equip a navy; to agree upon the number 


48 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


of tlie land forces, and to make requisions from each 
State for its quota in proportion to the number of 
white inhabitants is. such State, which requisition 
shall be binding v 

It thus appears that though the Confederation was 
designed to be a league, a number of powers appropri¬ 
ate to a general government were conferred upon 
Congress. But these grants of power were fettered 
by a condition which rendered the most important of 
them practically useless. None of those important 
powers could be exercised without the consent of nine 
States, as appears from the following: 

“ The United States in Congress assembled shall 
never engage in a war; nor grant letters of marque 
and reprisals in time of peace; nor enter into any 
treaty or alliances; nor coin money, nor regulate the 
value thereof; nor ascertain the sums and expenses 
necessary for the defence and welfare of the United 
States or any of them; nor emit bills; nor borrow 
money on the credit of the United States; nor appro¬ 
priate money; nor agree upon the number of vessels 
to be built or purchased, or the number of land or sea 
forces to be raised; nor appoint a commander-in-chief 
of the army or navy ; unless nine States assent to the 
same.” 

Measures of the utmost importance often failed in 
Congress in consequehce of this provision requiring 
the assent of nine States, instead of a majority. 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


49 


Congress was also to decide on appeal all ilispntes 
arising between the States, and to appoint a committee 
to act during the recess of Congress. The debts con¬ 
tracted by the Revolutionary Congress were declared 
to be good against the Confederation, and the public 
faith solemnly pledged for their payment. No altera¬ 
tions could be made in the Articles of Confederation 
unless agreed to in Congress, and afterwards confirmed 
by the legislature of every State. 

Such prohibitions were laid on the States as it was 
thought would prevent them from interfering with the 
exercise of the powers conferred upon Congress. 

The Articles of Confederation made no provision 
for a judiciary. Congress could establish courts for 
determinining the lawfulness of* capture at sea, but it 
had no power to erect civil tribunals. The only 
courts in existence under the confederation were State 
courts. 

The Confederation had great defects, which soon 
appeared in its practical operation. Congress had no 
power to execute its laws—no exercise of authority. 
Whether their measures were carried into execution, 
or not, depended upon the legislatures of the States. 
Washington wrote : “ The Confederation seems to me 
to be little more than a shadow without the substance; 
and Congress a nugatory body, their ordinances being 
little attended to.” 

Congress had no power to lay taxes and collect 
3 


50 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


revenue. They could apportion the sums needed 
among the States, but if any State did not see fit to 
furnish its portion, there was no help for it. There 
are on record many instances of neglect; Congress 
was often without funds to carry on the war and meet 
the public engagements. 

Congress had no power to regulate commerce, for¬ 
eign or domestic. Each State had power to regulate 
commerce within its own limits. In consequence, 
there were no uniform regulations. Our foreign com¬ 
merce was subject to such regulations as foreign na¬ 
tions chose to make, since Congress had no power to 
make, in case of injury, Retaliatory regulations. The 
result was the ruin of our navigation, and great in¬ 
jury to all the interests connected with it. 

There were not wanting statesmen who saw at the 
outset the defects of the Confederation, and labored tc 
correct them, but State jealousies prevented the grant 
ing to Congress of the powers necessary to an efficient 
government. 

After the close of the war, the stimulus of danger 
being removed from the States, the defects of the Con¬ 
federation were more fully developed. The treaties 
entered into by Congress were disregarded by some 
of the States; the sums required to be paid into tho 
treasury were not pqid. The entire prostration of 
public credit, the dissensions among the States, and 
the utter neglect with which the resolves of Congress 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


51 


were treated, threatened the most alarming conse¬ 
quences. The time seemed rapidly approaching when, 
to use the language of Washington, it would be a 
subject of “ regret that so much blood and treasure 
have been lavished for no purpose, that so many suf¬ 
ferings have been encountered without compensation, 
and that sc many sacrifices have been made in vain.” 


CHAPTER VIL 


FORMATION OF THE CONSTITUTION 

In view of the defects of the Confederation, the 
necessity of a stronger government was apparent to 
most of the leading statesmen of the day. Quite a 
number were active and earnest in preparing the pub¬ 
lic mind for a change, but the two most prominent 
were James Madison and Alexander Hamilton. 

Madison was the first to make a public movement 
in the right direction. In the spring of 1784 he be¬ 
came a candidate for a seat in the Legislature of Vir¬ 
ginia, that if elected, he might influence that body to 
take some measures toward giving the country a gov¬ 
ernment that would secure the freedom that had 
been so dearly purchased. He was elected, but found 
It difficult to make the desired impression. He found 
^ the majority exceedingly averse to any measures hav¬ 
ing a tendency to transfer power from the State to the 
United States. 

He finally, after about two years labor, succeeded 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 5$ 

m causing the legislature to pass the following resolu 
tiou: 

“ Resolved , That Messrs. Randolph, Madison, Jones, 
Tucker, and Lewis, be appointed Commissioners, who, 
or any of whom, shall meet such Commissioners as 
may be appointed by other States in the Union, to 
take into consideration the trade of the United States, 
to consider how far a uniform system in their commer¬ 
cial regulations may be necessary to their common 
interests and permanent harmony, and to report to the 
several States such an act relative to this great object 
as, when unanimously ratified by them, will enable the 
United States effectually to provide for the same.” 

By the articles of confederation, Congress could not 
impose a tariff for revenue or for the protection of 
domestic industry. The evils resulting from this lack 
of power had been so numerous and palpable, that 
Madison succeeded in securing the votes of a majority 
of his fellow legislators to the resolution above given. 
Had he proposed to them the formation of a new 
government, the plan of which was already clearly 
defined in his own mind, the proposition would doubt¬ 
less have been voted down by an overwhelming 
majority. lie knew the men with whom he was deal¬ 
ing, and proceeded with the caution of wisdom. 

Randolph, Tucker, and Madison attended the con¬ 
vention which met at Annapolis in September, 1 '786. 
Very little interest in the movement was felt by tha 


«4 THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 

people. Only five States were represented in the con 
vention, viz.: New Tfork, New Jersey, Pennsylvania 
Delaware, and Virginia. 

Connecticut, Maryland, South Carolina, and Geon 
gia did not appoint delegates. New Hampshire, Mas* 
sachusetts, Rhode Island, and North Carolina ap¬ 
pointed delegates, hut they failed to attend the con¬ 
vention. 

The friends of the Union as it ought to be, were 
everywhere active in urging the necessity of a re¬ 
form. They seldom, if ever, advocated any thing more 
than such an amendment of the Articles of Confedera¬ 
tion as would enable Congress to conduct national 
affairs in an efficient manner. Their arguments, as¬ 
sisted by the logic of events, began to have a percep¬ 
tible influence on the public mind. During the inter¬ 
val between the appointment of delegates to the con¬ 
vention and the time of its meeting, there was an 
evident advance of public opinion in the desired direc¬ 
tion. In consequence of this, the convention, under 
the lead of Madison and Hamilton, declined to enter 
upon the limited task assigned it, and recommended 
to Congress to call a convention with powers ade¬ 
quate to the occasion. The report containing this rec¬ 
ommendation was drawn up by Alexander Hamilton. 
It proposed the appointment by the States, of com¬ 
missioners to meet in Philadelphia, “ to take into con¬ 
sideration the state of the United States, to devise 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


55 


such further provisions as shall appear to them neces* 
Bary to render the Constitution of the Federal Gov¬ 
ernment adequate to the exigencies of the Union, and 
to report such an act for that purpose to the United 
States, in Congress assembled, as when agreed to 
by them and afterwards confirmed by the legisla 
tures of every State, shall effectually provide for the 
same.” 

This recommendation was first acted upon by the 
legislature of Virginia, by whom it received an unan¬ 
imous approval. New York was the next State that 
moved in the matter. The legislature instructed its 
delegation in Congress to move a resolution recom¬ 
mending to the States the appointment of delegates 
to meet in convention for the purpose of proposing 
amendments to the Articles of Confederation. 

On the 29th of February, 1787, a resolution was 
moved and carried in Congress, recommending a con¬ 
vention to meet in Philadelphia in May ensuing. Del¬ 
egates were in due time appointed by all the States 
except Rhode Island. 

The 14th of May was the day appointed for the 
opening of the convention. As only a small number 
of the delegates had arrived on that day, the conven¬ 
tion did not open till the 25th of May. There were 
then present twenty-nine delegates from nine States. 
Other delegates soon came in till the whole number 
was fifty-five. This assembly is known in history 


50 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


as the Federal Convention—the convention 'which 
framed the Federal Constitution. It embodied as 
large an amount of patriotism, talent, and wisdom as 
was ever assembled in this or in any other land. There 
were Washington, and Hamilton, and Madison, and 
Franklin, and King, and Sherman, and Ellsworth, and 
Pinckney, and Livingston, and Robert Morris, and 
Gouverneur Morris, and Dickinson, and Wilson, and 
many others scarcely less distinguished for talent and 
public services. If these men fail in their solemn 
efforts, what can be expected from human wisdom ? 

Mr. Madison, who was not absent a single day 
from the debates of the convention, says of its mem¬ 
bers : u I feel it my duty to express my profound and 
solemn conviction, derived from my intimate opportu¬ 
nity for observing and appreciating the views of the 
convention, Collectively and individually, that there 
never was an assembly of men charged with a great 
and arduous trust, who were more pure in their mo¬ 
tives, or more exclusively and anxiously devoted to 
the object committed to them, than were the members 
of the Federal Convention of 1787 to the object of 
devising and proposing a constitutional system which 
should best supply the defects of that which it was to 
replace, and best secure the permanent liberty and 
happiness of their country.” r 

Robert Morris, in behalf of the delegation from 
Pennsylvania, nominated Washington as the presiding 


the science of GOVERNMENT. 57 

officer of the convention. Franklin would have made 
the nomination, hut was prevented by ill health from 
being present. Franklin was the only man in the 
convention besides Washington, who could be sup¬ 
posed to have any claims to the chair. Washington 
was unanimously chosen. 

The convention adopted as one of its rules, “ That 
nothing spoken in the house be printed or otherwise 
published or communicated without leave.” Thus 
the proceedings of the convention were secret. Mr. 
Madison perceiving the interest which posterity would 
take in said proceedings, made a daily record of the 
same. This record was carefully preserved, and, after 
his death, published by order of Congress. We have 
thus a tolerably full report of the daily progress of 
the convention in forming the Constitution of the 
United States. 

Mr. Randolph, of Virginia, opened the main busi¬ 
ness of the convention by a speech, in which he set 
forth the defects of the Confederation, and then offered 
fifteen resolutions which were designed to furnish ma¬ 
terials for the action of the convention. These resolu¬ 
tions embodied the outlines of a plan of government 
of which we find notices in the previous correspond¬ 
ence of Madison with Washington, Jefferson, Ran¬ 
dolph, and others. It is fair, therefore, to infer that the 
plan of government presented by Randolph in hia 
fifteen resolutions originated with Madison. 

3 * • 


58 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


The following is a brief outline of the plan. It 
proposed a National Government with a division of 
powers into the legislative, judicial, and executive de¬ 
partments. It will be remembered that the Articles of 
Confederation made no provision for judicial and ex¬ 
ecutive departments. 

It proposed that the national legislature should 
consist of two branches, the members of the first 
branch to be elected by the people of the several 
States—the members of the second branch to be 
elected by the first branch out of a proper number 
nominated by the State legislatures. 

It proposed that the national legislature have 
power to legislate on all matters of national interest, 
and in all cases in which the States were incompetent 
to legislate, and that the national legislature have a 
negative on all State laws contravening the articles 
of union, and that the right of suffrage in the national 
legislature be proportioned to the quota of contribu¬ 
tion to national expenses, or to the' number of free 
inhabitants. This would have deprived the small 
States of their equality with the large States, and 
would have given no place to slave representation. 
From the outset, Madison designed to form a free 
constitution. 

It proposed that there should be a national ju 
iiei&ry, to consist of One or more supreme tribunals 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


59 


and inferior ones, and that tlie national executive he 
chosen by the national legislature. 

It proposed that provision be made for the admis¬ 
sion of new States to the Union, and that a republican 
form of government be guaranteed to each State, and 
that the legislative, judicial, and executive powers of 
the several States be bound by oath to support the 
Articles of Union. 

All the above features are, with some modifications, 
contained in the constitution. There was one which 
was not adopted. It proposed that there should be a 
council to decide on the constitutionality of laws—• 
that the national executive, with a convenient number 
of the national judiciary, should compose a council of 
revision to examine every act of the national legisla 
ture before it should go into operation, and every act 
of a State legislature before the veto on it should be 
final. The power of deciding the constitutionality of 
laws is by the constitution conferred on the Supreme 
Court. 

Such was the plan of government presented to the 
convention by the resolutions offered by Mr. Randolph. 
They were referred to the Committee of the Whole on 
the state of the Union. Mr. Charles Pinckney, of 
South Carolina, then presented a plan of governmen 
possessing supreme legislative, executive, and judicial 
powers. This was also referred to the Committee of 
.he Whole. 


60 


THE SCIENCE OP GOVERNMENT. 


The resolutions of Mr. Randolph were debated 
from day to day in the Committee of the Whole, til] 
the 13th of June—-nearly three weeks—when the com 
mittee reported to the convention nineteen resolutions, 
founded upon those proposed by Mr. Randolph. Of 
these nineteen resolutions, the first that was passed 
was the following: “ Hesolved, That a national gov- 
ernment ought to be established, with a supreme legis* 
lative, executive, and judiciary.” 

When the convention assembled, a large majority 
of its members supposed that the only work before 
them was that of amending the Articles of Confedera¬ 
tion; but the discussions that took place soon con¬ 
vinced a majority that a change of system was neces-= 
sary, and hence they voted, not that the Articles of 
Confederation ought to be amended, but that a na¬ 
tional government ought to formed. From that time 
forward they addressed themselves to that work. 
Madison, Hamilton, and other prime movers in call¬ 
ing the convention, had from the first the formation 
of such a government in view. 

These nineteen resolutions, which received the 
votes of the majority of the convention in the Com- 
• mittee of the Whole embraced the outlines of the fol¬ 
lowing plan of government, viz.: a national legisla¬ 
ture to consist of two branches, the first branch or 
lower house to be elected by the people for ti ree 
years; the second or upper house to be elected In th« 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


61 


Stale legislatures for seven years; the legislature to 
have powers superior to those of the Confederation; 
the suffrage in the legislature to be according to the 
number of free persons and three-fifths of other per¬ 
sons ; the national executive to be chosen for seven 
years, and to be ineligible for a second term, with 
power similar to those now possessed by the President 
of the United States; a national judiciary, with suita¬ 
ble powers; the whole plan to be submitted to assem¬ 
blies chosen for the express purpose of ratifying or 
rejecting it. 

Some progress had thus been made, not in amend 
ing the Articles of Confederation, not in forming a 
league between the States, but in forming a govern¬ 
ment for the United States. This progress was made 
not without great difficulty. There were some influ¬ 
ential men in the convention who clung to the old 
Confederation, and were unwilling that any consider¬ 
able increase of power should be given to the govern¬ 
ment of the Union. The small States were unwilling 
to surrender the equality of suffrage which they en¬ 
joyed under the Confederation. But by patient and 
able discussion, forbearance, and concession, progress 
was made. Resolutions were offered, debated, post¬ 
poned, called up again, passed, reconsidered, amended, 
and again perhaps postponed, and others proposed in 
thbir place, till at length the majority agreed upon 
the nineteen resolutions. This was on the 13th of 
J une. 


02 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERN'MENT. 


On the 15th of June, Mr. Patterson, of New Jersey, 
laid before the convention a plan which he and some 
others wished to have substituted for the one embodied 
in the nineteen resolutions. His plan proposed that 
the Articles of Confederation be revised, that the 
powers of Congress be enlarged with respect to the 
revenue and the regulation of commerce, that Con¬ 
gress appoint an executive with power to execute the 
Federal Acts, that a Federal Judiciary be established, 
and that the Acts of Congress in accordance with the 
Articles of Confederation and treaties made and ratifi¬ 
ed under the authority of the same, be the supreme 
law of the land. ■ 

The resolutions of Mr. Patterson were referred to 
the Committee of the Whole, to which committee the 
nineteen resolution were again referred. 

The two plans were now fairly before the conven¬ 
tion. It was admitted that the one aimed at perpet¬ 
uating a league between the States; that the other 
aimed at forming a national government acting upon 
individuals. “ The true question,” said Mr. Ran¬ 
dolph, “ is whether we shall adhere to the Federal 
plan, or introduce the national plan. A national gov¬ 
ernment alone properly constituted will answer our 
purpose.” 

The debate on these two sets of resolutions con¬ 
tinued for four days, when the committee reported the 
nineteen resolutions without alteration. The convex 


THE SCIENCE OE GOVERNMENT. 


63 


feion voted by States, each State having one Tote, 
The votes on this occasion were as follows: For tho 
national plan, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsyl* 
vania, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and 
Georgia—seven States. 

For the league plan, New York, New Jersey, and 
Delaware—three States. The vote of Maryland was 
divided. 

Messrs. Yates and Lansing, delegates with Hamil¬ 
ton from New York, cast the vote of that State in 
opposition to the well-known views of their colleague. 

It was during this debate that Hamilton for the 
lirst time addressed the convention, and gave the 
outline of a plan of government which he would like 
to see adopted. “ He did not mean,” he said, “ to 
offer the paper he had sketched as a proposition. It 
was meant only to give a more correct view of his 
ideas, and to suggest the amendments he should prob¬ 
ably propose to the plan of Mr. Randolph, in the 
proper stages of its future discussion. The following 
is a very condensed view of his plan: 

The supreme legislative power to be vested in an 
assembly and senate; the^members of the assembly 
to be chosen by the people for three years; the mem¬ 
bers of the senate to be chosen by electors chosen by 
the people; senators to serve during good behavior. 

The supreme executive authority to be vested in a 
governor, to serve during good behavior; his election 


64 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


to be made by electors chosen by electors chosen by 
the people. The governor to have an unqualified veto 
on all the acts of the legislature, to have the sole ap¬ 
pointment of the heads of departments, and to have 
the nomination of all other officers subject to the ad 
vice and consent of the Senate. 

The Senate to have the sole.power of declaring 
war, and of advising and approving treaties. 

A national judiciary to be instituted, the judges 
to hold office during good behavior. 

The governors of each State to be appointed by 
the General Government, and to have a negative on 
all the acts of the State legislatures. 

All the laws of the States contrary to the Constitu 

tion and laws of the United States to be null and 

# 

void. 

The convention had now, after much discussion 
and with great difficulty, decided on forming a con¬ 
stitution for a National Government. Much as they 
had done, they had only made a beginning. To 
agree upon the details of the general plan was found 
to be difficult—wellnigh impossible. 

In’view of these difficulties, Franklin proposed that 
prayer should be resorted to, and prefaced his proposal 
with the following remarks: 

“ In the beginning of the contest with Great Britain, 
when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer 
in this room for the divine prc tection. Our prayer* 


THE SCIENCE OP GOVERNMENT. 63 

flir, 'were heard, and they were graciously answered, 
All of us who were engaged in the struggle, must 
have observed frequent instances of a superintending 
Providence in our favor. To that kind Providence we 
owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on 
the means of establishing our future national felicity, 
and have we now forgotten that powerful friend ? Or 
do we imagine that we no longer need His assistance ? 
I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the 
more convincing proofs I see of this truth, That God 
• governs in the afpairs of men. And if a sparrow 
cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it 
probable that an empire can rise without His aid ? 
We have been assured, sir, in the sacred writings, that 
except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain 
that build it. I firmly believe this, and I also believe 
that without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in 
this political building no better than the builders of 
Babel. We shall be divided by our little partial, 
local interests, our projects will be confounded, and 
we ourselves shall become a reproach and by-word 
down to future ages. And what is worse, mankind 
may hereafter from this unfortunate instance, despair 
of establishing governments by human wisdom, and 
leave it to chance, war, and conquest. I therefore beg 
leave to move, that henceforth prayers imploring the 
assistance of Heaven, and its blessing on our delibera¬ 
tions, be held in this assembly every morning before 


flw THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 

we proceed to business, and that one or more of tin 
clergy of this city be requested to officiate in that 
service.” 

Washington said,in a letter to a friend: “I almost 
despair of seeing a favorable issue to the proceedings 
of the convention, and I do therefore regret that I have 
had any agency in the business.” This was written 
by one who, during the long, dark hours of the Revo¬ 
lution, never despaired of the republic. The danger 
of failure in constructing our government must have 
been very great. 

By the wise and conciliatory course pursued by the 
leaders of the convention, it was kept together, and 
the debates continued till the twenty-third of July, 
when the majority had come to an agreement as to the 
leading provisions of the Constitution in process of 
formation. Mr. Gerry, of Massachusetts, then moved 
“ that the proceedings of the convention for establish¬ 
ing a national government (excepting that part re¬ 
lating to the executive) be referred to a committee to 
prepare and report a constitution conformable there¬ 
to.” Messrs. Rutledge, Gorham, Randolph, Ells¬ 
worth, and Wilson, were appointed on this committee 
of detail. 

Three days afterwards, the proceedings of the con¬ 
vention respecting the executive were referred to the 
same committee. The convention then adjourned till 
the sixth of August, that the committee might have 
time to prepare and report a constitution. 


THE SCIENCE OF GO\ EENMENT. 


67 


Ou the sixth of August the committee of detail re 
ported a constitution of twenty-three articles. These 
articles embodied the substance of the resolutions 
which had been adopted by the convention. This re¬ 
port was on the seventh referred to the Committee of 
the Whole. It was then debated article by article 
about four weeks. During these debates many amend¬ 
ments and modifications were made. 

On the eighth of September, a committee was ap¬ 
pointed to revise the style and arrange the articles 
which had been agreed upon. This work of revision 
and arrangement was mainly performed by Gouverneur 
Morris. On the twelfth of September, the committee 
reported the constitution as revised and arranged, 
together with the draft of a letter to Congress. 

The Constitution was still before the convention, 
and the debates continued till the seventeenth of Sep¬ 
tember, when the last amendment was made at the 
suggestion of Washington. The Constitution, as re¬ 
ported, declared that “ the number of representatives 
shall not exceed one for every forty thousand.” This 
had occasioned great discussion. On Mr. Gorham’s 
moving to strike out forty and insert thirty thousand, 
Washington remarked: “That although his situation 
bad hitherto restrained him from offering his senti¬ 
ments on questions depending in the house, and, it 
might be thought, ought now to impose silence upon 
him, yet he could not forbear expressing his wish that 


58 


TIIE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


the alteration proposed might take place It was 
much to he desired that the objections tc the plan 
recommended might be made as few as possible. The 
smallness of the proportion of representatives had 
been considered by many members of the convention 
as an insufficient security for the rights and interest of 
the people. He acknowledged that it had always ap¬ 
peared to himself among the exceptionable parts of 
the plan, and late as was the present moment for ad¬ 
mitting amendments, he thought this of so much com 
sequence that it would give him great satisfaction to 
see it adopted.” The amendment was agreed to 
unanimously. The above were the only remarks made 
by Washington in the convention. 

On the 17 th of September, the Constitution, aa 
finally amended, was signed by all the members of 
the convention except Messrs. Randolph and Mason, 
of Virginia, and Mr. Gerry, of Massachusetts. Proba¬ 
bly there was not a single member who was fully 
satisfied with it, yet, with the above-named exceptions, 
they gave it their signatures and support, believing it 
to be the best that could be obtained. 

Previous to signing it Dr. Franklin remarked : “ I 
confess there are several parts of the Constitution 
which I do not at present approve, but I am not sure 
that I never shall approve them, for having lived long, 
I have often been obliged by better information or by 
fuller consideration to change opinions even on iin- 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT 


e9 


portant subjects.” “ I doubt whether any other con 
vention we can obtain may be able to make a better 
\ constitution. For when you assemble a number of 
men to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, you 
inevitably assemble with those men all their preju¬ 
dices, their passions, their errors of opinion, their local 
interests and selfish views. From such an assembly 
can a perfect production be expected ? It therefore 
astonishes me to find this system approaching so near 
to perfection as it does. I consent to the constitution 
because I expect no better, and because I am not sure 
it is not the best.” 

Hamilton remarked : “No man’s ideas were more 
remote from the plan than his own were known to 
be; but is it possible to deliberate between anarchy 
and convulsion on one side, and the chance of good to 
be expected from the plan on the other ? ” His con¬ 
cluding remark was, “ It is the best the present situa¬ 
tion and circumstances of the cc untry will permit.” 


CHAPTER VIII. 


ADOPTION OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

When the Constitution was completed and signed 
by the members of the convention, it was laid before 
Congress—the Congress of the Confederation. Con¬ 
gress referred it to the legislatures of the several 
States, who called conventions chosen by the people 
to adopt or reject it. 

When the Constitution was published and spread 
before the people, it met with vigorous opposition from 
mistaken patriots and selfish politicians. Among the 
former were such men as Patrick Henry, of Virginia, 
and Samuel Adams, of Massachusetts—men whose 
honesty and love of country were beyond the shadow 
of a doubt. They knew that men who possessed 
power were liable to abuse it—that history was filled 
with examples of the abuse of power. Hence they 
were unwilling to tnigt the General Government wifch 
the powers conferred upon it by the Constitution. 
They thought the only safeguards of liberty lay in 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


71 


each State retaining nearly all the powers which prop¬ 
erly belong to an independent nation. This could not 
be, if the Constitution and laws of the United States 
were to be “ the supreme law of the land.” 

They saw in the President of the United States a 
disguised king; and this would probably have pre¬ 
vented the adoption of the Constitution, had it not 
been regarded as certain that Washington would be 
the first President. All honest men felt that power 
in his hands would be safe. Probably the character 
of Washington had more to do with the adoption of 
the Constitution, than the arguments that were urged 
m favor of its provisions. 

The ablest men of the country ^employed their 
pens in explaining and defending the Constitution. 
Foremost among these were James Madison, Alexan¬ 
der Hamilton, and John Jay. The articles published 
by them in the public papers under the title of the 
' 4 Federalist,” constitute a most interesting and able 
commentary on the Constitution. We have in it the 
interpretation of the Constitution by its framers, who 
were fully competent to tell us what they meant to do. 

The people of the United States were divided into 
two parties, viz., those who favored and those who 
opposed the adoption of the Constitution. The former 
were called Federalists, and the latter Anti-Federal 
ists. 

The conventions called by the State legislatures to 


72 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


consider the Constitution, met at different times m 
different States. The convention of Delaware adopted 
the Constitution Dec. 7, 1787; Pennsylvania adopted 
it Dec. 12, 1787; New Jersey, Dec. 18, 1787, Georgia* 
Jan. 2, 1788; Connecticut, Jan. 9, 1788, Massachu¬ 
setts, Feb. 6, 1788; Maryland, April 28, 1788; South 
Carolina, May 23, 1788; New Hampshire, June 21, 
1788; Virginia, July 26, 1788; New York, July 26, 
1788. 

Delaware, New Jersey, and Georgia adopted the 
Constitution unanimously; Pennsylvania, Maryland, 
and South Carolina by large majorities; Massachu¬ 
setts, New York, and Virginia by small majorities. 

In the Pennsylvania convention, the task of ex¬ 
plaining and defending the Constitution devolved 
upon Mr. Wilson, a prominent member of the Federal 
Convention. Washington said that he was “as 
honest, candid, and able a member as the convention 
contained.” 

Wilson was requested by the Pennsylvania con¬ 
vention to explain the meaning of the different parts 
of the constitution. He was thus led to take a view 
of its leading provisions, and the reasons in support 
of them. His speeches constitute one of the best com¬ 
mentaries on the Constitution that has appeared. His 
acquaintance with the science of government was 
quite equal to that of* Hamilton. After the adoption 
of the Constitution, Washington appointed him one 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


73 


of the Judges of the Supreme Court of the United 
States. 

The fate of the Constitution in Massachusetts was 
for a long time considered doubtful by its friends. 
The people of that State were accustomed to annual 
elections, and the frequent return of power into their 
own hands. They were afraid that the power given 
by the Constitution to the General Government would 
prove destructive to their liberties. 

The convention contained three hundred and fifty- 
five members; among them were a score or more 
ministers of the gospel. Nearly all of these came to 
tl convention opposed to the Constitution. Having 
li ^ened to the discussions that took place, they with 
but one or two exceptions voted in favor of it. 

The celebrated John Hancock was chosen president 
of the convention. It was voted that the convention 
open daily with prayer, and that they should consider 
each article of the Constitution in order, and that each 
member have an opportunity of expressing his views 
on each part before the vote to adopt or reject should 
be taken. This course of proceeding saved the Con¬ 
stitution. In course of the free ind full discussion it 
allowed, the opinions of man) who came into the 
convention strongly opposed to the Constitution, were 
changed The arguments and appeals of such men 
as Fisher i^mes, Rufus King, Dana, Parsons, and 
others, had weight with the members, and when the 
4 


u 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


vote was taken, the Constitution was ratified by a 
majority of nineteen. 

The hearing of those who were outvoted is worthy 
of notice. Some who had made strenuous opposition 
throughout all the sessions of the convention, when the 
yote for adoption was declared, arose and said that 
they would now give to the Constitution their hearty 
supj)ort. For example one said: “ I have been opposed 
to the adoption of the Constitution, yet as a majority 
has seen fit to adopt it, I shall use my utmost endeav¬ 
ors to induce my constituents to live in peace under 
it, and cheerfully submit to it.” 

The Virginia convention met on the second day 
of June, 1788. The ablest men of Virginia were 
members of it—Madison, Marshall, Henry, Pendleton 
Wythe, Randolph, Mason, Monroe, and others. 

Henry took strong ground in opposition to the 
Constitution, and was supported by Mason, James 
Monroe, and many others. Madison, Marshall, Ran¬ 
dolph, Pendleton, Nicholas, and others defended the 
Constitution, and urged its adoption. It was adopted 
by a small majority. Henry, like a true patriot as he 
was, became one of its warmest friends and supporters. 

The New York convention assembled at Pough¬ 
keepsie June 17, 1788. George Clinton, who was an 
opponent of the Constitution, was chosen president. 
The convention was opened every morning with 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


75 


prayer. The supporters and opponents of the Consti 
tution were very nearly equal. 

The leading advocates for adoption were Chancel 
lor Livingston, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, 
The vote to adopt was carried by a majority of four. 

The convention of North Carolina rejected the 
Constitution. Rhode Island refused to call a conven¬ 
tion to consider the question. 

In several of the conventions, it was proposed to 
ratify the Constitution, on condition that certain speci¬ 
fied amendments were made. Madison was consulted, 
and gave it as his opinion that the ratification could 
not be conditional. The ratification was finally in all 
the States unconditional, and the desired amendments 
strongly recommended. The most important of these 
desired amendments were recommended by two-thirds 
of the first Congress under the Constitution, and hav¬ 
ing been ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths 
of the States, became a part of the Constitution. 

The Constitution declared, that when nine States 
had adopted it, it should be binding on those States. 
When the ratifications of nine States had been received 
by Congress, they were referred to a committee to ex 
amine them, and to report an act putting the Consti 
tion into operation. This was on the 2d of July, 1788 

On the 14th of July such an act was reported, bul 
it was not adopted tiL the 13th of September. Elec 
tiohs for officers of the new government were directed 


76 THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 

to be held in January, 1789, and the first Wednesday 
in March was designated as the time for commencing 
operations under the Constitution. 

Washington was unanimously elected President, 
and John Adams Vice-President. Elections for mem¬ 
bers of the House of Representatives were held by 
the people, and for the Senate by the legislatures of the 
States. Congress was to meet, and the new govern¬ 
ment to be inaugurated in the city of New York. 

The time appointed was the first Wednesday in 
March, but a quorum of both houses of Congress did 
not assemble till some time in May, when Washington 
was sworn into office and the new system introduced. 
The new government was not fully organized till 
autumn. The heads of departments could not be ap¬ 
pointed till Congress had passed laws establishing 
those departments. When this was done, Thomas 
Jefferson was appointed Secretary of State, Alexander 
Hamilton Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Knox 
Secretary of War, and Edmund Randolph Attorney- 
General. These gentlemen constituted Washington’s 
cabinet. Thus the government was fully organized 
and its beneficial influence was immediately seen in 
the rapidly increasing prosperity of the nation. 

In November, 1789, North Carolina, by a con yen 
tion called for that .purpose, ratified the Constitution 
In May, 1790, Rhode Island ratified it. All the orig 
inal States were then united under the ConsrvatioE. 


CHAPTER IX. 


THE NATTJEE OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

The preamble of the Constitution reads thus: 

“We the people of the United States, in order to 
form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure do¬ 
mestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, 
promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings 
of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain 
and establish this Constitution for the United States 
of America.” 

This preamble sets forth the object and nature of 
the Constitution. Two widely different views have 
been entertained. The one regards the Constitution 
as forming a national government for the people of 
the United States; the other regards it as a compact 
or league between sovereign States. The first view is 
the one entertained by the framers of the Constitution, 
and by the great majority of the people of the United 
States. The second was advocated by Jonn C. Cal¬ 
houn, and was held by a large portion of the people 


78 THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 

of the Southern States, when the late rebellion took 
place. 

Those who regard the Constitution as a league of 
compact between sovereign States, hold that if one of 
the parties to the compact fails to observe its provis¬ 
ions, the other parties are released from all further 
obligation. According to this view, if any State 
thinks one of the laws passed by Congress to be un¬ 
constitutional, it has a right to declare that law null 
and void within the limits of the State. If any State 
thinks the Constitution has been violated, she may se¬ 
cede from the Union, and become, if she chooses, an 
independent nation. South Carolina attempted to 
practise nullification in 1832, and nearly all the South¬ 
ern States attempted to secede in 1860. 

The Constitution is not a league or compact be¬ 
tween sovereign States. It is an instrument adopted 
by the people of the United States, for the purpose 
of creating a government acting for many purposes 
directly on the people of the United States. It pro¬ 
vides that the government thus created shall be su¬ 
perior in authority to all the State governments. It 
declares that the Constitution and laws of the United 
States u shall be the supreme law of the land, g,ny 
thing in the constitution and laws of any State to the 
contrary notwithstanding.” 

The people of the United States made the govern¬ 
ment, and they alone can change or unmake it, and in 


THE SCIENCE OP GOVERNMENT. 


79 


bo doing, they must go according to the directions of 
the Constitution. Of course no State can nullify a 
law of Congress, and no State can secede. ~No State 
or individual can decide whether a law is constitu¬ 
tional or not. The Constitution refers the decision 
of such questions to the supreme court, and the decis 
ion is final. 

That this is the true view of the Constitution and 
government appears from the following reasons: 

The Articles of Confederation were confessedly a 
league, and they failed to meet the wants of the coun¬ 
try. Hence a convention was called to amend them. 
The members of the convention came together for the 
purpose of amending the league, but they were soon 
convinced that something more was necessary; hence 
the first resolution passed by them was, “ Resolved, 
That a national government ought to be formed, con¬ 
sisting of a supreme legislative, executive, and judi¬ 
ciary.” 

After the passage of this resolution, an effort was 
made to return to the league plan. Mr. Patterson, as 
we have seen, introduced certain resolutions having 
for their object the perpetuation of the league. It 
was distinctly understood that the two plans were be¬ 
fore the house. “The true question is,” said Mr. 
Randolph, “ whether we shall adhere to the Federal 
plan, or introduce a national plan.” 

Seven States voted to “introduce a national plan,” 


60 


TIIE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


and only three against it. From that time onward 
the efforts of the convention were directed to tha 
formation of a national government. 

“ If any historical fact in the world be plain and 
undeniable,” says Daniel Webster, “it is that the 
convention deliberated on the expediency of contin¬ 
uing the Confederation with some amendments, and 
rejected that scheme, and adopted the plan of a 
national government with a legislature, executive, 
and judiciary of its own. They were asked to pre¬ 
serve the league; they rejected the proposition. They 
were asked to continue the existing compact between 
the States; they rejected it. They rejected compact, 
league, and confederation, and set themselves about 
framing the Constitution of a national government, 
and they accomplished what they undertook.” 

When the Constitution was published, one objec¬ 
tion which was strongly urged against it was, that the 
members of the Federal Convention had transcended 
their powers. They were chosen, it was said, to amend 
the league of the States, and they had formed a na¬ 
tional government. The advocates of the Constitution 
did not deny the fact thus stated. They did not claim 
that the Constitution was a league of States. They 
admitted that it framed a national government, and 
contended that such a government was necessary to 
the prosperity of the country. 

In the Virginia convention, Patrick Henry ex 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


81 T* 


pressly objected to the language of the preamble, “ We 
the people of the United States.” “ Have they said, 
‘We the States’? Have they made a proposal of a 
ompact between States ? If they had, this would be 
confederation; it is otherwise most clearly a consol- 
dated government. The question turns, sir, on that 
poor little thing—the expression, ‘We, the people,’ 
instead of ‘ the States of America.’ ” * 

The act of adoption by the convention speaks of 
the powers granted under the Constitution as “ being 
derived from the people of the United States.” 

In the Pennsylvania convention, Mr. Wilson said: 
“ This is not a government founded upon compact. It 
is founded upon the power of the people.” Again: 
“ This system is not a compact or a contract. The 
system tells you what it is; it is an ordinance and 
establishment of the people.” 

In the Connecticut convention, Mr. Johnson, who 
had been a member of the Federal Convention, after 
speaking of the difficulty of legislating for States in 
their political capacity, said : “ They have, therefore, 
gone entirely upon new ground. They have formed 
one new nation out of individual States.” 

The preamble itself is very explicit and clear. 
There is no possibility of mistaking its meaning, it 
says nothing about the formation of a compact by 
sovereign States. It says nothing whatever about the 

* Elliot’s Debates, iii. '72. 


82 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


States acting as States. It declares, “We, the people 
of the United States, do ordain and establish this Con¬ 
stitution for the United States of America.” 

Nothing is found in any part of the Constitution 
making mention of a league or compact between the 
States. In a league or compact the parties are named, 
and the mutual stipulations recorded. There is no 
trace of any thing of this kind in tbe Constitution. 
In no place are the States mentioned as contracting 
parties. The people speak throughout the document. 
They do not enter into stipulations with a party. 
They speak with the voice of authority. They declare 
what powers the government shall exercise, and what 
powers it shall not exercise. 

The second section of the sixth article of the Con¬ 
stitution declares: “ This Constitution, and the laws 
of the United States which shall be made in pursuance 
thereof, and all treaties made or which shall be made, 
under the authority of the United States, shall be the 
supreme law of the land; and the judges in every 
State shall be bound thereby, any thing in the consti¬ 
tution or laws of any State to the contrary notwith¬ 
standing.” 

No terms could be more explicit than these. If 
they do not forbid a State to nullify a law of Congress, 
or to throw off the authority of the Constitution, then 
language cannot be so framed as to forbid those acts. 

The Constitution appoints an arbiter to decide ali 


THE SCIENCE OF otOVEENMENT. 


83 


questions relating to the violation of the Constitution, 
It declares that “ the judicial power shall extend to al„ 
cases, in law and equity, arising under this Constitu 
tion, the laws of the United States, and treaties made 
or which shall be made under their authority.” Every 
question, therefore, with respect to the violation of the 
Constitution that can be made the subject of judicial 
proceedings, that can constitute a case, is to be de¬ 
cided by the Supreme Court, and that decision is final. 
This completes the supremacy of the Constitution. 
Suppose a State passes a law conflicting with the 
Constitution of the United States: a suit is brought 
under that law, and its constitutionality is argued be¬ 
fore the Supreme Court. The Court declares the law 
unconstitutional, and hence null and void: no regard 
is thenceforth paid to it. 

An early decision of the Supreme Court declares, 
“ The Constitution of the United States was ordained 
and established, not by the States in their sovereign 
capacity, but emphatically as the preamble of the 
Constitution declares, by ‘the people of the United 
States.’” 

( The several States cannot with propriety be spoken 
of as sovereign States. Sovereign power is supreme 

! power—power that has no other power over it. A 
sovereign State is one that possesses sovereign power. 
Now, no one of the United States possesses sovereign 
power. There is a power, that of the Constitution, 


84 


THE SCIENCE 0E GOVERNMENT. 


higher than the power of any State. This is plaii 
from the declaration, “ This Constitution shall be the 
supreme law of the land, and the judges in every State 
shall be bound thereby, any thing in the constitution 
or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.’* 
Thus the power of every State is limit* d. limited 
power is not sovereign power. 


CHAPTER X 

''•ONGflESS—HOUSE OF EEPKE3EHTATTVE8. 

Akt. 1 . Section - I. “ All Legislative powers herein 
granted, shall be vested in a Congress of the United 
States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of 
Representatives. ” 

The first resolution adopted by the Federal 
Convention, as we have seen, contemplated the 
formation of a government with Legislative, Judicial, 
and Executive departments. In carrying out that reso¬ 
lution, it was intended to keep those departments dis¬ 
tinct and independent. The experience of the past has 
shown that when these departments are distinct, that 
is, when one class of men make the laws, and another 
class interpret them, and a third execute them, justice 
is much more likely to be done than when the legisla¬ 
tive, judicial, and executive powers are possessed by 
▼the same person or persons. This division of power 
is wanting in an absolute monarchy. Hence there 
can be no security against injustice under such a 
government. 



86 


THE SCIENCE OP GOVERNMENT. 


In an absolute monarchy, all power of every kind 
is in the hands of the monarch. He may appoint men 
to make laws, but if the laws do not please him he 
can unmake them. He may appoint judges to inter 
pret the laws, but their interpretations and decisions 
must be according to his will. If they are not, the 
judges will be removed and others ajjpointed in their 
places. He may appoint men to execute the laws, but 
they must consult his pleasure or lose their places, if 
not their heads. Under a despot, the three depart¬ 
ments may exist in form, but not in reality. 

It is not possible to make the three departments 
perfectly independent of each other; but they can be 
made distinct, and so far independent, that there shall 
be reasonable security that one department shall not 
invade the rights or unduly influence the action of the 
other. The framers of the Constitution aimed at 
doing this, and succeeded in a good degree. If they 
have in any degree come short, it is in making the 
judicial dependent for its organization on the legisla¬ 
tive department. 

The legislative power is vested in Congress, which 
consists of two separate houses. The Congress of the 
Confederation consisted of one house. 

An act must receive the assent of a majority of 
both houses before it can be presented to the Presi¬ 
dent for his signature. 

Reason and experience unite in showing that such a 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


87 


course is more likely to secure wise legislation, than 
when the legislative power is vested in a single house. 
Public bodies as well as individuals are liable to 
excitement and passion. A measure may receive a 
majority of votes in a legislative body, and yet be an 
unwise and unjust measure. If it became a law as 
soon as it passed a single house, there would be no 
remedy but in repeal, and that would not take place 
speedily if at alL But let such a measure, if it pass 
one house, be sent to another entirely distinct from 
the one that passed it. It will be coolly examined, 
and probably rejected. If a bill passes one house 
without due examination, it will be more carefully 
examined in the other. Thus the great advantage of 
having two houses in the legislature is, that each is a 
check on the other in preventing hasty, unwise, and 
unjust legislation. 

Bribery and corruption are rendered more difficult 
when there are two bodies to corrupt instead oi one. 

The advantages of two houses will be greater 
according as they are differently constituted. If the 
members of one house are drawn from a different class 
af citizens, and have different responsibilities thrown 
upon them, and hold their seats for a different period, 
the check of one upon the other will be the greater. 

The Parliament of Great Britain, in which the leg¬ 
islative power of the realm is vested, consists of the 
House of Commons and the House of Lords. .The 


B8 


THE SCIENCE op government. 


members of the House of Commons are chosen by the 
people for seven years; the members of the House of 
Lords belong to the hereditary peerage. The oldest 
son of a peer takes his seat in the House of Lords on 
the death of his father. 

Art. 1, § 2. “The House of Representatives shall 
be composed of members chosen every second year by 
the people of the several States, and the electors in 
each State shall have the qualifications requisite for 
electors of the most numerous branch of the State 
legislature.” 

The term of service for a representative is two 
years. Some of the framers of the Constitution wished 
to have the representatives elected annually, and 
others for a longer period than two years. Two years 
were finally fixed upon as a medium. 

If the term of service were only one year, the 
legislator would scarcely become familiar with his du 
ties before his term would expire. If different persons 
were elected every year, as might be the case, the 
house would be constantly changing its character, and 
the effect might be, continual changes in legislation. 
The house would not possess the experience in legisla¬ 
tion which is desirable. 

On the other hand, if the term of service were five 
or seven years, the representatives would feel less 
responsible to their constituents, and would be more 
likely to abuse the power possessed by them. Dis» 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 8S 

honest and intriguing men would have a better oppor¬ 
tunity to influence the course of legislation. 

When the Constitution was formed, univtiSal suf¬ 
frage did not generally prevail. In most of the States 
there was a property qualification for voting. This 
differed in different States. In some States, a small 
amount of property entitled a man to vote for some 
of the lower offices, and a larger amount for the higher. 
It was necessary to define the qualifications for an 
elector of representatives, and the most convenient 
way seemed to be to adopt the qualifications required 
in each State to vote for the most numerous, by which 
is meant the lower branch of the State legislature. 

The members of the English House of Common? 
are chosen for seven years, but they rarely serve out 
the time for which they were chosen. The king can 
dissolve the house whenever he pleases, and order a 
new election. Whenever there is a majority in the 
house against the administration, or against the min¬ 
isters, as it is termed, either the ministers resign and 
new ministers are appointed by the king, or the House 
of Commons is dissolved and a new one elected. 

Art. 1, § 2,2. “Ho person shall be a representa 
tive who shall not have attained to the age of twenty- 
five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United 
States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhab¬ 
itant of that State in which he shall be chosen.” 

It was thought that, requiring the representative 


00 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


to be at least twenty-five years old, would be some« 
thing of a guaranty for the possession of knowledge 
and soundness of judgment. Age does not necessarily 
give wisdom, but age is a necessary condition of ex 
perience. 

A man may be elected a member of the House ol 
Commons at the age of twenty-one. 

The representative must be a citizen of the United 
States, either by birth or naturalization. Ho country 
permits aliens to take part in the affairs of govern¬ 
ment, and few permit naturalized citizens. 

The representative must be an inhabitant of the 
State for which he is chosen, in order that he may 
be acquainted with the wants and interests of his con¬ 
stituents. The States are by law divided into con¬ 
gressional districts, and the usage is to have the rep¬ 
resentative of a district an inhabitant of that district. 
The Constitution does not require this. It simply re¬ 
quires that the representative be an inhabitant of the 
State. A resident in Buffalo might constitutionally 
represent a constituency in Hew York city. 

If it Avere customary sometimes to go out of the 
district for a representative, a greater number of able 
men might be elected representatives. As the usage 
now is, if there lived in a congressional district a dozen 
men, each one of th§m the peer of Henry Clay or 
William L. Marcy, only one of them could be in Con¬ 
gress at the same time, though it might be very desir- 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


91 


able that the country should have their services as 
legislators. 

A member of the House of Commons may be 
chosen for any place from any part of Great Britain. 
A resident of Edinburgh may be chosen for Cam¬ 
bridge. This custom brings many more able men into 
the House than would otherwise be there. 

It will be observed that no property qualification 
is requisite in order to be a representative in Congress. 
In order that a man may be a member of the House 
of Commons, he must possess a certain amount of 
property. If a poor man happens to be elected, his 
wealthy friends place the requisite amount of property 
in his hands, that he may take his seat. In nearly 
every constitutional government except that of the 
United States, the legislators are required to be prop¬ 
erty holders. It is thought that those who possess 
property will feel a deeper interest in regard to the 
security of property and the administration of justice 
than those who have no property. It was a maxim 
of John Jay, “Those who own the country ought to 
govern it.” 

Art. 1, § 2, 3. “Representatives and direct taxes 
shall be apportioned among the several States, which 
may be included within this Union, according to their 
respective numbers, which shall be determined by add¬ 
ing to the whole number of free persons, including those 
bound to service for a term oi years, and excluding 


02 


THE SCIENCE OF GOYEENMENT, 


Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons. The 
actual enumeration shall be made within three years 
after the first meeting of the Congress of the United. 
States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, 
in such manner as they shall by law direct. The num¬ 
ber of representatives shall not exceed one for every 
thirty thousand, but each State shall have at least one 
representative. And until such enumeration shall be 
made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled 
to choose three; Massachusetts, eight; Rhode Island 
and Providence Plantations, one; Connecticut, five; 
New York, six; New Jersey, four; Pennsylvania, 
eight; Delaware, one; Maryland, six; Virginia, ten; 
North Carolina, five; South Carolina, five; and Geor¬ 
gia, three.” 

Under the Confederation each State had one vote. 
One of the great difficulties in forming the Constitu¬ 
tion, was the unwillingness of the small States to re¬ 
linquish their equality in representation in the legisla¬ 
ture. 

Another difficulty arose from slavery. The North¬ 
ern States insisted that the representation should be 
apportioned according to the number of the free pop¬ 
ulation. The slave States insisted that the slaves 
should be counted in the enumeration. A compromise 
was at length made, hy which three-fifths of the slaves 
were counted. This gave the slave States a greatei 
number of representatives in proportion to the fre* 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


white population than the free States. When tho 
rebellion took place, the slave States had more rep* 
> resentatives in Congress than they would have been 
entitled to on the basis of a free population. 

It was thought that some offset to this advantage 
would accrue to the North, from the provision which 
requires all direct taxes to be apportioned in the 
same manner as the representatives. But that provis¬ 
ion has been, for the most part, inoperative. Very 
few direct taxes were laid previous to the civil war. 
The national revenue was raised by indirect taxation. 

Our fathers avoided introducing the word slave 
into the Constitution. It was expected that slavery 
would come to an end, and they did not desire that 
any evidences of its existence should be found in the 
Constitution. Mr. Madison remarked, in the Federal 
Convention, that he wanted nothing in the Constitu¬ 
tion which implied that there could be property in 
man. 

A strict compliance with the provision of the Con¬ 
stitution, which requires that representatives shall be 
divided among the States according to their respective 
numbers, is impossible. Suppose the population is 
thirty millions, and an attempt is made to apportion 
the representation according to the numbers in each 
State; suppose it be determined to assign a represent¬ 
ative to every fifty thousand. The population of 
each State must then be divided by fifty thousand, 


94 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


In all cases it is probable a fraction would remain, 
and that fraction would be without a representative, 
This is the course that is adopted, and comes as near 
the constitutional rule as is practicable. The Consti 
tion provide that no State have more than one repre¬ 
sentative for every thirty thousand. It does not say 
it shall have one for every thirty thousand. As the 
population of the United States has increased, the 
ratio of representation has been from time to time 
enlarged by Congress. This was necessary to prevent 
the house from becoming unwieldy. 

Art. 1, § 2, 4. “When vacancies happen in the 
representation from any State, the executive authority 
thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacan¬ 
cies.” 

The Executive of a State will feel an interest in hav¬ 
ing the State fully represented in Congress. Hence 
the power to issue writs of election will be promptly 
exercised. 

Art. 1 , § 2, 5. “ The House of Representatives shall 
choose their Speaker and other officers, and shall have 
the sole power of impeachment.” 

The power to choose its Speaker and other officers 
is necessary to the independence of the house. The 
Speaker of the House of Commons is chosen by the 
house, but must be approved by the king. There is 
no provision corresponding to this in regard to the 
Speaker of the House of Representatives. 


THE SOIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


95 


Impeachment, “in a judicial sense, is a written 
formal accusation of a person, as being guilty of some 
public offence or misdemeanor.” In the English gov¬ 
ernment, the power of impeachment is vested in the 
House of Commons. 


CHAPTER XL 


THE SENATE. 

Art. 1, § 3, 1 . “ The Senate of the United States 
shall he composed of two senators from each State, 
chosen by the legislature thereof for six years; and 
each senator shall have one vote.” 

The members of the convention were nearly unani¬ 
mous in placing the legislative power in two houses. 
They were equally well agreed that two houses should 
be differently constituted. Some thought the senators 
should be chosen directly by the people of the States, 
some thought they should be chosen by the House of 
Representatives, and others that they should be choseh 
by the legislatures of the States. This last opinion 
prevailed. 

It was thought that the choice would be more se¬ 
lect, if made by a legislative body, than if made by 
the people. As the^Senate has some very important 
duties to perform, besides that of uniting with the 
House in making laws, it was designed to adopt such 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


97 


a mode of election as would secure for senators the 
ablest men in the land. 

In forming the House of Representatives, we 
have seen that the small States yielded the equality 
they had hitherto enjoyed; in the Senate they were 
permitted to retain that equality. Each State, with¬ 
out regard to extent of territory or population, is en¬ 
titled to two senators. 

The Senate was designed to be a smaller body 
than the House of Representatives. Some duties are 
assigned it which could not well be performed by a 
large body. If only one senator had been assigned 
to each State, the State might often be without a voice 
in the Senate. Giving two senators to each State 
guards against this evil, and still does not render the 
Senate too numerous. 

The term of service is for six years. The senators 
unite with the President in the management of the 
foreign relations of the country. Their duties require 
an amount of experience greater than is required by 
the representatives, who are simply clothed with leg¬ 
islative powers. The Senate shares with the Presi¬ 
dent the treaty-making power, and advise and consent 
to his appointments to office. It is reasonable, there¬ 
fore, thal the term of office should be longer than that 
of the representatives. 

The time finally fixed upon was the result of com¬ 
promise between those who would have made the 

5 


08 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


term longer, and those who would have made n 
shorter. 

Art. 1 , § 3 , 2 . “ Immediately after they shall ho 
assembled in consequence of the first election, thej 
shall be divided as equally as may be into three 
glasses. The seats of the senators of the first class 
shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year; 
of the second class at the expiration of the fourth 
year; and of the third class at the expiration of the 
sixth year, so that one-third may be chosen every sec¬ 
ond year; and if vacancies happen by resignation or 
otherwise, during the recess of the legislature of any 
State, the executive thereof may make temporary ap¬ 
pointments until the next meeting of the legislature, 
which shall then fill such vacancies.” 

The object of this provision was to satisfy those 
who feared that the senators would acquire an undue 
amount of power in consequence of the tenure of office 
for six years. This provision, while it now secures to 
each senator six years of service, renders the whole 
body less permanent, and, it was thought, less likely 
to accumulate power. 

Art. 1 . § 3 , 3 . “No person shall be a senator who 
shall not have attained to the age of thirty years, and 
been nine years a citizen of the United States, and 
who shall not, when'blected, be an inhabitant of that 
State for wdiich he shall be chosen.” 

It was thought that the grave duties devolving 


TIIE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


99 


Upon the senator required an experience of life and a 
maturity of judgment not usually found in those who 
are less than thirty years of age. 

As the Senate, together with the President, has 
control of our foreign relations, and as foreign-horn 
citizens are eligible to a seat in the Senate, it wa& 
deemed wise to require such a period of citizenship as 
would be likely to result in a strong affection to tli6 
adopted country. 

Art. 1 . § 3 , 4 . “ The Vice-President of the United 
States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have 
no vote unless they be equally divided.” 

If the Senate were to choose their Speaker from 
their own number, the State from which he was chosen 
would have more than its due share of power, for the 
presiding officer can, to a considerable extent, influence 
the course of legislation On the other hand, it would 
in part deprive the State of one of her senators. 

The provision that renders the Vice-President the 
presiding officer of the Senate, is a wise one. Giving 
him a vote in case the Senate is divided equally, is 
also wise; since the Senate must, when all the members 
are present, consist of an even number, and hence a 
tie can easily happen. This provision of the Constitu* 
tion preserves the equality of the States in the 
Senate. 

Art. 1 . § 3 , 5 . “The Senate shall choose their 
other officers, and also a President pro tempore in the 


100 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


absence ot* the Vice-President, or when he shall exer¬ 
cise the office of President of the United States.” 

It is customary for the Vice-President to retire a 
few days before the close of each session, that the 
Senate may elect a president pro tempore. Then if, 
during the recess, the Vice-President is called to act as 
President of the United States, the Senate will have a 
presiding officer, and be ready to proceed to business 
at the opening of the next session. Experience has 
shown the wisdom of this custom. 

The House of Lords is .composed of the peers of 
England, sixteen representative peers of Scotland, and 
twenty-eight representative peers of Ireland, and the 
archbishops and bishops of the Church of England. 
The peers consist of the nobility of England. The 
different orders of nobility are: dukes, marquises, 
earls, viscounts, and barons. The bishops are not 
hereditary peers; they have seats in the House of 
Lords only by virtue of their ecclesiastical offices. 

The king can add to the number of the House of 
Lords whenever he pleases, by creating peers, that is, 
making commoners peers. The dignity lie thus be¬ 
stows he has no power to take away. 

If the king wishes a measure to pass the House of 
Lords, and there is a majority against it, he can change 
that majority into a minority, by creating a sufficient 
number of new peers. In 1832 it was proposed to 
i reate a sufficient number of peers to carry the Reform 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


101 


Bill. When the peers saw that such a creation would 
take place, they yielded and passed the bill, rather 
than have an accession to their ranks from the plebeian 
orders. 

The lord high chancellor is the presiding office! 
of the House of Lords. He is a cabinet officer, and 
holds office during the continuance of the administra¬ 
tion of which he is a member. He is said to occupy 
the woolsack. The richly wrought cushion on which 
he is seated when presiding over the House is filled in 
with wool, a symbolical allusion to the manufacturing 
interest of the kingdom. The chancellor is always a 
peer of the realm, and, as such, a member of the House. 

Art. 1 , § 3, G. “ The Senate shall have the sole 
power to try all impeachments. When sitting for 
that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. 
When the President of the United States is tried, the 
chief justice shall preside, and no person shall be con¬ 
victed without the concurrence of two-thirds of the 
members present.” 

By this provision of the Constitution, the Senate is 
clothed with judicial power for a certain purpose. An 
impeachment, as has been stated, is a written accusa¬ 
tion against persons in office, for the purpose of bring¬ 
ing them to trial for misconduct. By the Constitution, 
the House of Representatives must bring the accusa¬ 
tion, tliat is, present articles of impeachment, and the 
Senate must try the case and give judgment. 




102 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


If a' public officer, say a judge of the Supreme 
Court, is guilty or is supposed to be guilty of bribery, 
a motion is made in the House of Representatives to 
impeach him. Witnesses are called, and if the house 
think there i» ground to authorize a trial, they prepare 
and send to the Senate articles of impeachment. The 
Senate, while trying the judge thus impeached, sit as 
a court of justice, and take a solemn oath to try the 
case faithfully, and a vote of two-thirds is necessary 
to conviction. 

If the President of the United States is impeached, 
and found guilty and removed from office, the Vice- 
President succeeds to his place. The Vice-President 
should, therefore, not take part in the trial. The chief 
justice, as the highest judicial officer of the country, is 
the proper person to preside on so important an occa¬ 
sion, especially as he can have no personal interest in 
the issue of the trial. 

As the offences for which men are commonly im¬ 
peached are official misdemeanors, the Senate can, 
with greater propriety, try the offender than a court 
of justice. The courts of justice are accustomed to 
examine and decide questions of law. 

If a judge of the Supreme Court were impeached, 
t would not be desirable that he should be tried by 
bis associates in office. 

The provisions of the Constitution relative to ira 
peackment, are borrowed from the English Constitu* 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


103 


tion. By the English Constitution, the power of ini* 
peacbment is vested in the House of Commons, and 
that of trying the impeached, in the House of Lords. 
In the House of Lords conviction or acquittal is by a 
mere majority. 

Art. 1 , § 3, 7. “Judgment in cases ofimpeachmeu 
shall not extend further than to removal from office, 
and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of 
honor, trust, or profit under the United States; but 
the party convicted shall, nevertheless, be liable and 
subject to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment, 
according to law.” 

The Constitution thus provides that no person can 
be put to death except by indictment, trial, and judg¬ 
ment according to law. In prohibiting a legislative 
body from inflicting the penalty of death, our fathers 
were in advance of the legislation of the world. The 
House of Lords, in addition to removal and disqualifi¬ 
cation, may inflict banishment, forfeiture of goods, im¬ 
prisonment, and death. This provision of the Con¬ 
stitution j> revents unprincipled partisans from de¬ 
stroying those who may be opposed to them, and stand 
in the way of their wicked schemes. History shows 
that men have often been the victims of party hate- 

A person impeached and condemned for a crime 
punis v ible by law, can also be indicted, tried by a 
cour f jf justice, and punished. Suppose the Presi¬ 
des 1 : the United States should be guilty of murder. 


m 


THE SCIENCE OE GOVEENMENT. 


He would doubtless be impeached and removed from 
office. The Senate could not condemn him to death 
as a murderer. But he could be indicted for murder 
by a grand jury, and tried, and if found guilty of 
murder, executed. 

Art. 1, § 4, 1. “ The times, places, and manner of 
holding elections for senators and representatives* 
shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature 
thereof: but Congress may at any time, by law, make 
or alter such regulations, except as to the places of 
choosing senators.” 

The propriety of this provision rests upon “ this 
plain proposition, that every government ought to 
contain in itself the means of its own preservation.” 
If a State executive and legislature should become dis¬ 
loyal and neglect to make provision for the election 
of representatives to Congress, Congress has power to 
make the necessary regulations. The exception with 
respect “to the place of choosing senators ” was added 
because it was not thought becoming in Congress to 
prescribe the place where the legislature should 
meet. 

Art. 1, § 4, 2. “ The Congress shall assemble at least 
once in every year, and such meeting shall be on the 
first Monday in December, unless they shall by law 
appoint a different day.” 

The disuse of Parliaments for many years under the 
Stuarts, and the tyranny consequent thereon, caused 


THE SCIENCE OP GOVERNMENT. 


105 


the English people to insist on annual Parliaments. 
The Colonial Legislatures were accustomed to meet 
tnnually, and the provision requiring Congress to 
meet annually was adopted as a matter of course. It 
furnishes a check to executive and other official cor¬ 
ruption, and prevents the country from suffering from 
the lack of legislation relative to events which may' 
have taken place during the recess of Congress. 

Art. 1, § 5, 1. “ Each house shall be the judge of 

the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own 
members, and a majority of each shall constitute a 
quorum to do business; but a smaller number may 
adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to 
compel the attendance of absent members in such 
manner, and under such penalties, as each house may 
provide.” 

This is necessary to the independence of each 
house. If some other department of government had 
the power of determining who are entitled to seats, 
the character of the house might depend upon that 
department. Suppose that department to be strongly 
partisan. Partisan claimants only would be admitted 
to seats. 

A similar provision exists in the English Parlia¬ 
ment, and has been adDpted by all constitutional gov¬ 
ernments. 

If less than a majority could enact laws, and wield 
the power of the house, a small number of intriguing 
5* 


106 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


men might, on some occasions, wield the power of the 
iiouse. A comparatively small portion of the House 
of Commons may constitute a quorum. 

In times of high political excitement, a majority 
might absent themselves in order to arrest the prog¬ 
ress of legislation. To guard against this possible 
'evil, a minority are empowered to compel the attend¬ 
ance of absent members. 

Art. 1 , § 5, 2. “ Each house may determine the 

rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disor¬ 
derly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two- 
thirds, expel a member.” 

In order that a legislative body may be independ¬ 
ent, it must determine the rules of its proceedings. 
The rules which govern the proceedings of legislative 
and deliberative bodies, constitute what is termed 
Parliamentary Law. An acquaintance with parlia¬ 
mentary law is important to all legislators, and to all 
who take part in the proceedings of deliberative 
bodies of any kind. The parliamentary usages of Eng¬ 
land and America have done much to promote wise 
legislation. For example: one of those usages is, 
that no bill shall be passed without being read before 
the house three times, and that the three readings 
shall not all take place on the same day. This has a 
tendency to prevent,hasty legislation. 

To guard against the possibility of injustice, no 
member can be expelled unless two-thirds of all the 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


107 


members vote for the expulsion. If a mere majority 
eould expel, men obnoxious to the majority would 
not, in times of high political excitement, be secure in 
their seats. A similar power exists in the House of 
Commons. 

Art. 1, § 5, 3. “Each house shall keep a journal 
of its proceedings, and, from time to time, publish the 
same, excepting such parts as may, in their judgment 
require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the mem¬ 
bers of either house, on any question, shall, at the de 
sire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the 
journal.” 

The propriety of making the proceedings public 
is apparent. The people have a right to know w^hat 
their agents are doing. A few acts may require tem¬ 
porary secrecy, and for this provision is made. 

It is desirable that constituents should know how 
their representatives rote. Some men will vote for a 
bad measure, if their votes can pass unobserved. The 
fact that the yeas and nays may be called for and re¬ 
corded and published, acts as a restraint upon such 
men. The provision is therefore an important one, 
though it is liable to abuse. A factious minority de 
sirous of hindering the course of legislation may make 
frivolous motions, and demand the yeas and nays upon 
them, and thus consume the time of the house. 

The sessions of both Houses of Congress are usu¬ 
ally open to spectators. When the Senate is ill ex- 


108 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


ecutive session, that is, when it meets to confirm o'* 
reject the nominations of the President, it sits with 
closed doors. 

To obtain admission to either house of Parlia¬ 
ment, an order from a member of the house is neces¬ 
sary. A portion of the gallery of the hall in which 
the House of Commons meet, is partitioned ofi* from 
the rest, and its seats cushioned. This is called the 
Speaker’s gallery. To this, distinguished visitors are 
admitted. When a vote is taken in the House of 
Commons, all spectators are required to withdraw. 
This usage has not been copied by the House of Rep¬ 
resentatives. 

Art. 1, § 5, 4. “Neither house, during the session 
of Congress, shall, without the consent of the other, 
adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other 
place than that in which the two houses shall be 
sitting.” 

Art. 1, § 6, 1. “ The senators and representatives 

shall receive a compensation for their servicer, Co be 
ascertained by law, and paid out of the treaty of 
the United States. They shall in all casvi, except 
treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged 
from arrest during their attendance at tY j session of 
their respective houses, and in going to vjd in return¬ 
ing from the same; and for any speech rr debate in 
either house, they shall not be qt ////.vied in any 
other place.” 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


100 


Under the Confedeiation, we have seen, the dele- 
gates were to be paid by the States sending them. 
As payment was not always prompt, attendance was 
not always regular. 

If compensation were left to the State legislatures, 
the national government would become dependent 
upon the State governments. If members were not 
paid, men of limited means could not serve as legis¬ 
lators. 

The members of the British Parliament do not re¬ 
ceive any compensation. This has not kept men of 
limited means out of Parliament, but it has rendered 
them dependent upon their wealthy friends. It is de¬ 
sirable that the legislator should in every sense be 
independent. 

Freedom from arrest during the session, and while 
going and returning, are necessary to prevent constit¬ 
uents from losing the services of their representative. 
It is called a privilege of a member, but it is really a 
provision of justice for the constituent. 

If the representative or senator be guilty of cer¬ 
tain high crimes, he may be arrested. The commis¬ 
sion of such crimes wouhl prove his unfitness to act as 
a legislator. 

Freedom of speech is essential to the independence 
of the legislator. If he could be called to account for 
any thing said in the house by a power from without, 
freedom of debate would be at an end, and legislation 
a farce. 


110 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


This feature of the Constitution was borrowed 
from the English Constitution. In England, if a man 
publishes his speech after delivering it in Parliament, 
and it contains defamatory or libellous matter, he is 
liable to prosecution. There has been no judicial set 
tlement of this question in the United States. It is 
contended by some that the freedom guaranteed by 
the Constitution extends to the publication as well as 
the utterance of one’s speech. 

Art. 1, § 6, 2. “No senator or representative shall, 
during the time for which he was elected, be appointed 
to any civil office under the authority of the United 
States, which shall have been created, or the emolu¬ 
ments whereof shall have been increased during such 
time; and no person holding any office under the 
United States, shall be a member of either house dur¬ 
ing his continuance in office.” 

An influential member might cause a lucrative of 
flee to be created, and then receive it at the hands of 
the executive, in return for political party services. 
The Constitution aims to prohibit all such corruption. 
It would make the legislator as disinterested as possi* 
ble. 

In prohibiting all persons holding office under the 
United States from being members of either house, 
the Constitution differs from that of England. The 
English Constitution permits the members of the cab¬ 
inet and officers of the crown to hold seats in tha 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


Ill 


House of Commons. If a member is appointed to 
office he thereby vacates his seat, but he may be im¬ 
mediately reelected and take his seat. There is an 
advantage attending this arrangement. The leaders 
of the administration, the heads of departments, can, 
as members of the house, bring forward and advo¬ 
cate their plans. They are always on hand to give 
information or answer objections. 

Art. 1, § 7, 1. “All bills for raising revenue shall 
originate in the House of Representatives, but the 
Senate may propose or concur with amendments, as 
on other bills.” 

This provision is borrowed from the House of 
Commons. Whatever reasons may exist for it there, 
they do not exist in the United States. As the Senate 
has the power of amending what are termed “ money 
bills,” it might just as well have the power of orig¬ 
inating them. 

The English Constitution requires that all money 
bills originate in the House of Commons, and the 
House of Lords must pass or reject them without 
alteration. This gives the democratic portion of the 
government wellnigh supreme power, if they choose 
to exercise it. The House of Commons may attach 
to a money bill a rider requiring concessions very dis¬ 
tasteful, it may be, to the aristocracy. The Lords can 
make no alteration in the bill. They must pass it 
with its obnoxious provision or reject it. To reject it 


112 


THE SCIENCE OP GOVERNMENT. 


may be to deprive tbe government of funds, to sioj 
the payment of pensions, and throw things into con 
fusion. If the Commons will it, they can compel the 
Lords to pass any measure they may choose to pro 
pose. Reverence for the aristocracy seems to keep 
them from exercising their power. 

Art. 1, § 7, 2. “ Every bill which shall have passed 
the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall 
before it becomes a law, be presented to the President 
of the United States; if he approve, he shall sign it, 
but if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to 
that house in which it shall have originated, who shall 
enter the objections at large on their journal, and pro¬ 
ceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration, 
two-thirds of that house shall agree to pass the bill, 
it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the 
other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsid¬ 
ered, and if approved by two-thirds of that house, it 
shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes 
of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, 
and the names of the persons voting for and against 
the bill shall be entered on the journal of each house 
respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the 
President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after 
it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be 
a law, in like manner fis if he had signed it, unless the 
Congress, by their adjournment, prevent its return, in 
which case it shall not be a law.” 


TIIE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


113 


A qualified negative on the acts of Congress is 
thought to be needed, to prevent the legislative from 
encroaching on the executive department. It is an 
additional check upon the legislative bodies, and may 
prevent hasty and unconstitutional legislation. 

The King of England has an absolu „e negative on 
the acts of Parliament, but there has not been an 
example of its exercise for nearly two centuries. 

It was net expected that the veto power would 
be often used by the President. It was designed to 
meet emergencies. Washington used it but once, and 
that on constitutional grounds. This veto plainly 
prevented a violation of the Constitution. 

In defence of this provision of the Constitution, it 
may be said, that any measure so important that the 
country would suffer great inconvenience if it were 
not passed, cannot be prevented by the President’s 
veto. It would secure the votes of two-thirds of both 
houses and thus become a law. 

It cannot be denied that when parties in Congress 
are not far from equal, the President can, in con¬ 
sequence of possessing the veto power, exercise an 
undue control over the course of legislation. 

Art. 1, § 7, 3. “ Every order, resolution or vote, to 
which the concurrence of the Senate and House of 
Representatives may be necessary (except on a ques¬ 
tion of adjournment), shall be presented to the Presi¬ 
dent of the United States; and before the same shall 


114 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


take effect, shall be approved by him, or, being dis« 
approved by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of 
the Senate and House of Representatives, according to 
the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a 
bill.” 

If an order or resolution might take effect without 
the signature of the President, a bill or matter of 
great importance might under the name of a resolu¬ 
tion become a law without the President’s assent. 


CHAPTER XIL 


POWERS OF CONGRESS,, 

Art. 1 , § 8,1 . “The Congress shall have power to 
lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to 
pay the debts, and provide for the common defence 
and general welfare of the United States; but all 
duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform through¬ 
out the United States.” 

The former of the two first clauses sustains to the 
latter the relation of means to end. Congress shall 
have power to lay taxes in order to pay the debts and 
promote the general welfare. If this be not the true 
interpretation, then Congress has unlimited power. 
They can do every thing that they think tends to 
provide for the common defence and the general wel¬ 
fare. Now, it is well known that it was designed to 
form a government of limited powers, and to state 
the limitations is one of the objects of the Constitu¬ 
tion. 

This part of the Constitution gives Congress powei 


116 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


to raise taxes for certain specific purposes. Congress 
therefore has no power to lay taxes for ary other pur¬ 
poses. If Congress should pass a law imposing a tax 
of a million dollars to aid the liberal c ause in Italy 
or to spread the gospel in \frica, the ’aw would b 
unconstitutional. 

The want of power to la) and collect taxes was a 
radical defect of the Confederation. No government 
can be efficient in peace or war, unless it can command 
the means for meeting its pecuniary expenditure. It 
can have this means only as it has the power of laying 
and collecting taxes. 

Taxes include contributions of every kind required 
by the government from its subjects for the service 
of the State. Imposts are taxes levied upon goods 
upon their importation from a foreign country. Ex¬ 
cises are taxes levied upon goods manufactured or 
sold in the country. The word “ duties,” as generally 
used, includes imposts and excises, and taxes on goods 
exported from a country. 

All taxes laid by Congress must be uniform 
throughout the United States. This is an obvious 
dictate of justice. 

Can Congress impose a duty, that is, lay a tax for 
the protecting and encouraging domestic manufac¬ 
tures, on goods imported from foreign countries ? 
This question has been warmly debated by the frienda 
and opponents of a tariff for the protection and en- 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVEENMENT. 


117 


couragement of domestic industry. It is admitted by 
all, that Congress has power to lay a tariff for raising 
a revenue to be applied to paying the debts and pro¬ 
moting the general welfare; but it has been denied by 
some that Congress has power to lay a tariff for the 
encouragement of domestic industry. If Cosgress 
has power to lay and collect taxes in order to pro¬ 
mote the general welfare, then if the laying of a tariff 
is adapted to promote the general welfare, it would 
seem that Congress has power to lay a tariff. 

The preamble to the first act of the first Congress 
under the Constitution for raising a revenue, recog¬ 
nizes the duty, on the part of Congress, of encourag¬ 
ing domestic manufactures. It does not appear that 
there was a single member of Congress who doubted 
its power to make laws for the encouragement of do¬ 
mestic manufactures. Hamilton’s celebrated Report 
on Manufactures takes for granted that Congress pos¬ 
sessed this power. The doctrine that laws for the en¬ 
couragement and protection of domestic manufactures 
W'ere unconstitutional, was first taught by men who had 
been instrumental in pausing such laws to be passed. 

The question is not open to debate. Repeated de¬ 
cisions of the Supreme Court, the tribunal authorized 
by the Constitution, have settled the question. 

The question whether Congress ought to pass such 
laws, or whether a system of free trade should prevail, 
is a question of politica 1 economy and not of constitu* 


118 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


tional law. On this question there is a difference of 
opinion among statesmen, and will be, probably, for 
many years. 

Congress has also power, 

2. “ To borrow money on the credit of the 
United States.” If this power were not possessed, 
it would be necessary to provide by taxation for 
every public expenditure. This would be impossible 
in a long and expensive war. The United States 
could not have raised by taxation the immense 
sums expended in the late civil war. If a country 
cannot carry on war, it cannot support its dignity and 
maintain its independence. Power to contract debts 
may be said to be essential to the continuance of a 
government. 

The law of nations recognizes the power of all 
governments to contract debts, and makes the debts 
contracted by one government binding on a succeed¬ 
ing government, though that government may be of 
an entirely different nature, and may be founded on 
the forcible overthrow of the previous government. 

The exercise of this power by the government 
thould be closely watched by the people. 

Congress has also power, - 

3. “ To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and 
among the several States, and with the Indian tribes.” 

To regulate commerce is to prescribe the juIes for 
carrying on commercial intercourse be* <veen nations 


TIIE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


119 


It of course includes rules relating to navigation. The 
Confederation did not possess this power, and the 
consequence was the ruin of our interests connected 
with commerce and navigation. Foreign nations 
placed such restrictions on our commerce as they 
chose, and the Congress of the Confederation had no 
power to make any retaliatory restrictions or take any 
corrective measures. 

From the commencement of the government under 
the Constitution, this power has been exercised. Of 
course it involves power to lay, a protective, or even a 
prohibitive tariff. 

In 1807, the question was raised whether Congress 
had power to lay an embargo of unlimited, duration. 
An embargo forbids all ships and vessels from leaving 
any port in the country for any foreign port, so long 
as the embargo continues. In 1807, President Jeffer¬ 
son recommended the laying of an embargo by Con¬ 
gress, as a measure of safety for our vessels which 
suffered in consequence of the wars then in progress 
among the European powers. It was laid. Its con¬ 
stitutionality was questioned by some in the commer¬ 
cial States. It was admitted that Congress had power 
to regulate commerce, but it was contended that to 
regulate was not to destroy. An embargo unlimited 
in duration was the destruction of commerce. 

An appeal was made to the Supreme Court upon 
the question. The court decided that the law was 


i20 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


constitutional. Since then the power has not beeu 
questioned, though it has not been exercised. 

The power to regulate commerce include^power 
to pass Navigation Laws. Navigation laws have for 
their object the granting of peculiar privileges to the 
ship-owners of the country making the laws. The 
power of Congress to pass such laws has not been 
called in question. 

Congress has also power to regulate commerce 
among the States. This is necessary to the prosperity 
and harmony of the States. “ If each State were at 
liberty to regulate the trade between State and State, 
it is easy to foresee that ways would be found out to 
load the articles of import and export, during their 
passage through the jurisdiction, with duties which 
should fall on the makers of the latter and the con¬ 
sumers of the former. The experience of the Ameri¬ 
can States under the Confederation abundantly estab¬ 
lishes that such arrangements could be and would bo 
made under the stimulating influence of local inter¬ 
ests, and the desire of undue gain. Instead of acting 
as one nation in regard to foreign powers, the States 
individually commenced a system of restraint upon 
each other, whereby the interests of foreign powers* 
were promoted at their expense. When one State 
imposed high duties *<on the goods or vessels of a for¬ 
eign power to countervail the regulations of such 
powers, the next adjoining States imposed lighter du- 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


121 


ties to invite those articles into their ports, that they 
might be transferred thence into the other States, se¬ 
curing the duties to themselves. This contracted policy 
in some of the States was soon counteracted by oth¬ 
ers. Restraints were immediately laid upon such 
commerce by the suffering States; and thus a state of 
affairs disorderly and unnatural grew up, the neces¬ 
sary tendency of which was to destroy the Union 
itself” * 

All these difficulties were brought to an end by 
conferring upon Congress the power to regulate com¬ 
merce between the States. 

The power to regulate commerce with the Indian 
tribes was necessary to the peace and safety of the 
frontier States. 

The possession of this power to regulate com¬ 
merce, enabled Congress to place the country on equal¬ 
ity with foreign nations, and to compel them to respect 
the rights of our commerce, and to establish an equi¬ 
table and harmonious intercourse between the States. 
The possession of this power by Congress was abso¬ 
lutely necessary to make the States one nation. 

Congress has also power, 

* 4. “To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, 
and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies, 
throughout the United States.” 


6 


* Story. 


122 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


An alien, that is a foreigner, a subject of a foreign 
State, is naturalized when, in accordance with the law, 
he has renounced his allegiance to his sovereign or 
government, and taken the oath of allegiance to the 
Government of the United States. He is then a citi¬ 
zen of the United States, entitled to all the rights and 
privileges of those who were born citizens, except the 
privilege of being eligible to the Vice-Presidency and 
Presidency of the United States. As the citizens of 
each State are entitled to all the rights of citizenship 
in the other States, the rule for making citizens ought 
of course to be uniform. 

A bankrupt law is a law releasing the debtor fr&m 
the legal obligation to pay his debts. Whether a 
release from legal obligation is also a release from 
moral obligation, is a question of morals. Whether 
bankrupt laws ought to be passed is doubted by many. 
Granting that it is proper that such laws should be 
passed, it is clear that they should be passed by the 
Congress of the United States, that they may be uni¬ 
form throughout the States. There is at the present 
time (18G6) no national bankrupt law in force. Con¬ 
gress has twice exercised the power; in each case the 
law was speedily repealed. 

Most of the States have insolvent laws, but they 
do not affect debts contracted previously io the pas¬ 
sage of the law, nor debts due to citizens of another 
State. 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


123 


Congress has also power, 

5. “ To coin money, regulate the value thereof and 
of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and 
measures.” 

6. “ To provide for the punishment of counterfeit¬ 
ing the securities and current coin of the United 
States.” 

The coin of the country should be of uniform 
purity and value, and hence should be issued by the 
National Government. If the States, or if individ¬ 
uals were to coin money, provided they put the same 
amount of gold and silver in the coin that is put in at 
the mint of the United States, their coin would be as 
valuable as the coin of the United States. But if the 
different States and individuals were allowed to coin, 
there would be less security for the purity of the coin 
than at present. It is true that the coin may be de¬ 
based by the agents of the United States, but the 
security is greater when one power controls the 
issue. 

It is of the utmost importance to the business 
interests of the country that weights and measures 
should be uniform. This could not well be secured, 
if the power were not vested in Congress. 

The power to punish counterfeiting the securities 
and coin of the United States, appropriately follows 
the power to issue the same. 

Congress has power, 


124 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


7. u To establish Post-Offices and Post-Roads.” 

The National Government only can establish and 

support an efficient postal system throughout the 
United States. To establish post-offices and post-roads, 
is not merely to designate the places were post-offices 
shall be kept, and the roads over which the mail shall 
be carried; it gives Congress power to build post- 
offices, and if need be to construct roads. Power to 
do these things is implied in the power to establish 
post-offices and post-roads. Power to do a thing 
implies po'faer to use the necessary means. 

Congress has power, 

8. “ To promote the progress of science and useful 
arts, by securing for limited times to authors and 
inventors the exclusive right to their respective writ¬ 
ings and discoveries.” 

It is difficult to see why an author has not as per 
manent a right to the product of his brain as the shoe 
maker has to the product of his hands. It is true, he 
cannot enforce his right even for a limited time with¬ 
out a copyright granted by the government. If Con¬ 
gress had not the power 1o grant copyrights, the 
author would be obliged to apply to the State govern¬ 
ments. His property would not be secure unless he 
had a copyright from every State. If he had a copy¬ 
right in only one State, it might be violated with 
impunity in every other State. The same remarks 
apply to patents for inventions. 


THE SCIENCE OP GOVERNMENT. 


121 


Congress has power, 

9. “ To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme 
Court.” 

10. “ To define and punish piracies and felonies 
committed on the high seas, and offences against th 
law of nations.” 

The National Government is responsible to foreign 
governments for the conduct of its citizens on the high 
seas, hence it should have power to define and punish 
offences committed there. The “ high seas ” begin at 
low-water mark, and embrace all the waters of the 
ocean. The term felony is usually employed to 
designate such crimes as are punishable by death. 

Congress has power, 

11. “To declare war, grant letters of marque and 
reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land 
and water.” 

12. “To raise and support armies; but no appro¬ 
priation of money to that use shall be for a longer 
term than two years.” 

13. “ To provide and maintain a navy.” 

14. “To make rules for the government and regu¬ 
lation of the land and naval forces.” 

15. “ To provide for calling forth the militia to 
execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, 
and repel invasions.” 

16. “To provide for organizing, arming, and dis¬ 
ciplining the militia, and for governing such part of 


£26 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


them as may be employed in the service of the United 
States, reserving to the States respectively, the ap¬ 
pointment of the officers, and the authority of training 
the militia according to the discipline prescribed by 
Congress.” 

The declaration of war is a solemn act, and one in 
which it is fitting that both branches of the legislature 
and the executive take part. War should not be entered 
upon unless deemed necessary by a majority of both 
houses of Congress and the President. 

The British Constitution gives to the king alone 
the power to declare war; yet, as the Commons hold 
the purse, he cannot carry on a war unless a majority 
of the Commons approve it. Thus the power to de¬ 
clare war rests practically with the House of Com¬ 
mons. 

Letters of marque and reprisal are commissions 
granted by a government to its citizens to seize the 
property of an enemy, or of persons belonging to 
another government refusing to do justice to the citi¬ 
zens of the country granting the commissions. 

If two nations are at war, individuals are not at 
liberty to fit out armed vessels and seize the property- 
uf the enemy on the high seas. Were this done with 
out a commission from the government, it would be 
piracy, and the authors would, if captured by the 
enemy, be treated as pirates, and not as prisoners of 
war. 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


121 


Under the Confederation, Congress had no power 
re :aise armies. It had power simply “ to agree upon 
tl i number of land forces, and to make requisitions 
fi Jffi each State for its quota.” It was then the duty 
of each State to furnish its quota. Experience proved 
that the system was miserably inadequate. “It i 
essential to the common defence, that the national 
government should possess the power to raise armies, 
build and equip fleets, prescribe rules for the govern¬ 
ment of both, and provide for their support.” 

The power to raise and support armies is not with¬ 
out limitation. No appropriation of money for the 
support of armies can be made for a longer term than 
two years. A new Congress is chosen every two 
years. If the people disapprove of the Avar, they can 
put an end to it by electing to Congress men repre¬ 
senting their views. 

Congress has poAver to provide for the calling out 
the militia to execute the laws, to suppress insurrec¬ 
tions, and repel invasions. It was necessary to give 
Congress this power, or to keep a standing army. In 
1795 , Congress, in pursuance of this authority, pro¬ 
vided by law “ that whenever the United States shall 
be invaded, or be in imminent danger of invasion from 
any foreign nation or Indian tribe, it shall be lawful 
for the President to call forth such a number of the 
militia of the State or of the States most convenient 
to the place of danger or scene of action, as he may 


128 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


judge necessary to repel said invasion, and to issua 
his order for that purpose to such officer or officers of 
the militia as he shall think proper.” 

The Constitution says that Congress shall provide 
for calling out the militia to repel invasions. The law 
authorizes the President to call them out in case of 
“ imminent danger of invasion,” on the principle that 
power to repel invasion includes the power to guard 
against any attempt and danger of invasion. 

A decision of the Supreme Court has determined 
that the authority to decide when the danger is suf¬ 
ficient to justify a call for the militia, rests with the 
President, and not with the officers to whom the or¬ 
ders of the President are addressed. If the President 
should abuse the power, and call out the militia when 
there was no necessity for so doing, he would be liable 
to impeachment. 

The power to organize, arm, and discipline the 
militia, and to govern such part of them as may be 
employed in the service of the United States, is neces¬ 
sary to their efficiency. The appointment of the 
officers, and authority to train the militia according to 
the discipline prescribed by Congress, is reserved to 
the States. It was the policy of the framers of the 
Constitution to leave as much power to the States as 
was consistent with an efficient government for the 
United States. 

Congress has power, 



THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


129 


Art. 1, § 8, 17. “ To exercise exclusive legislation in 
all cases whatsoever over such district (not exceeding 
*en miles square) as may, by cession of particular States, 
and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of 
government of the United States, and to exercise like 
authority over all places purchased by the consent of 
the legislature of the State in which the same shall be, 
for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, 
and other needful buildings; and to make all*laws 
which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into 
execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers 
vested by this Constitution in the government of the 
United States, or in any department or office thereof.” 

It is necessary for the independence of Congress 
that it should possess supreme authority over the place 
of its sessions. At one time, the Congress of the 
Confederation while sitting at Philadelphia, was sur¬ 
rounded by a mob of mutineers from the Continental 
army. The executive of Pennsylvania, not taking 
prompt measures for their defence, Congress adjourned 
to Princeton, New Jersey, and from thence, for 
greater convenience, to Annapolis. 

The forts, magazines, etc., belonging to the 
United States, should not be under the control of 
any one of the States. This is too plain to need 
proof. 

While it is conceded by all, that Congress had no 
power to abolish slavery in the States so long as those 
6 * 


130 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


States performed their constitutional duties, yet there 
can be no doubt as to their power to abolish slavery 
in the District of Columbia. The Constitution clothes 
Congress with power to “ exercise exclusive legislation 
in all cases whatsoever.” 

This power was exercised in the year 1863, by 
forever abolishing slavery in the District of Co¬ 
lumbia. 

The clause declaring that Congress shall have 
power to make all laws which shall be necessary and 
proper for carrying into execution the powers ex¬ 
pressly conferred, was scarcely necessary. Power to 
do a thing includes the power to use the necessary 
means for doing it. 

This clause of the Constitution has become note¬ 
worthy, because on it was founded the argument for 
the constitutionality of a national bank. The power 
of Congress to charter a national bank was once keen¬ 
ly debated, and the leading statesmen of the day took 
opposite sides of the question. 

The first national bank w r as chartered by Congress 
in the early part of the first administration of Wash¬ 
ington, with a capital of $10,000,000. When the bill 
was presented to Washington, he asked the opinion of 
his cabinet. Hamilton and Knox advised him to sign 
the bill, Jefferson and Randolph advised agaihst it. 
After long deliberation he signed it, and it became a 
law. 


TIIE SCIENCE OF GOVESNMENT. 


131 


The charter of the bank expired in 1811. In 
1816 a second national bank, chartered by Congress, 
went into operation with a capital of $30,000,000. 
Its charter expired in 1836. Bills renewing its char¬ 
ter were passed by Congress, and vetoed by President 
Jackson on the ground that they were, in his view, 
unconstitutional. 

The main argument in favor of the constitution¬ 
ality of an act of Congress chartering a bank of the 
United States, may be stated as follows: a bank is a 
necessary and proper means of conducting the fiscal 
affairs of the government, therefore it is constitu¬ 
tional. 

The objector says it is not a necessary means, for 
the fiscal affairs of the government can, and have been, 
managed without it. 

To this it is replied that the term necessary is not 
to be taken in its strictest sense, for it is followed and 
modified by the word proper—“ necessary and proper” 
means. 

The question has been twice before the Supreme 
Court, and the decision in both cases was in fa¬ 
vor of the constitutionality of the bank. Since the 
arbiter appointed by the Constitution has decided 
the question, it can no longer be regarded as an open 
one. 

This power was exercised by Congress in 1863, in 
the passage of “ the act to provide a national - cup 


132 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


rency, secured by a pledge of United States stocks, 
and to provide for the circulation and redemption 
thereof.” 

This act gave existence to the national banka 
which are scattered throughout the land. 


CHAPTER Xm 


prohibitions on congress and the states. 

Art. 1, § 9, 1 . “ The migration or importation of 
such persons as any of the States, now existing shall 
think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by 
Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred 
and eight; but a tax or duty may be imposed on such 
importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each per* 
son.” 

The slave trade was carried on between Africa and 
the Southern States, and by every civilized nation of 
Europe, when the Constitution was formed. When 
the subject came before the convention, some of the 
States desired to introduce into the Constitution an 
article prohibiting it at once. 

1 The proposition to allow its continuance to the 
year 1808, was finally carried by the aid of Northern 
votes. It is supposed that some of the Northern 
votes were given for the extension of the trade, 


134 


THE SCIENCE OE GOVERNMENT. 


on condition that Southern votes should he given in 
favor of navigation laws desired by the North. It is 
■ estimated that 300,000 s. aves were imported between 
the time of the formation of the Constitution and 1808. 

This was the first movement in the civilized world 
toward restricting and abolishing that inhuman traffic. 
Congress prohibited it as soon as this provision of the 
Constitution would allow. 

Art. 1, § 9, 2. “ The privilege of the writ of ha¬ 
beas corpus shall iipt be suspended, unless when, in 
oases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may 
require it.” 

The writ of habeas corpus is the great safeguard 
against unjust imprisonment. If a man is arrested 
and imprisoned, a writ of habeas corpus may be sued 
out before a competent judge. By this writ, the judge 
orders the man to be brought before him, and requires 
those detaining him to show cause why he should not 
be discharged. If good reasons are given why he 
should be deprived of his liberty, the judge will re¬ 
mand him to prison. If good cause be not shown, he 
will discharge him. While this writ is not suspended, 
no one can be held in prison for any considerable 
length of time, without just cause. It may, therefore, 
well be regarded as one of the greatest safeguards of 
individual liberty. 

There may come emergencies when the public 
safety may require that the writ be suspended. The 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


135 


only emergencies authorizing its suspension are rebel¬ 
lion and invasion. 

During the late rebellion, the writ of habeas cor 
pus was suspended. Men were arrested and put in 
rison without the forms of law. It was one of those 
xtraordinary occasions which, according to the con¬ 
stitutional provision, justified the suspension of the 
writ of habeas corpus. 

Who is to decide whether in time of rebellion o: 
invasion, the public safety requires the suspension of 
the writ ? Congres-s or the President ? Some con¬ 
tend that the power to decide rests with the President; 
others that it rests with Congress. In the late suspen¬ 
sion, the act was done by the President, and subse¬ 
quently sanctioned by Congress. 

Art. 1, § 9, 3. “ No bill of attainder or ex post 
facto law shall be passed.” 

A bill of attainder is an act of a legislature declar¬ 
ing a man guilty of some crime, and sentencing him 
to death. In former days such acts were passed, often 
without giving the accused an opportunity to answer 
to the accusation brought against him, and without 
the formality of proof. Many legislative murders 
have thus been committed. The bloody records of 
the past led our fathers effectually to prevent this 
Kind of injustice in the United States. Ours is the 
first goverument j^rohibiting acts of attainder. 

An ex post facto law defines itself as being made 



136 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


after the performance of the act which it declares to 
be criminal. The obvious injustice of such a law ren 
ders it proper that it should be forbidden by the Con 
stitution. “ The prohibition reaches every law where* 
by an act is declared a crime, and made punishable aa 
such, when it was not a crime when done; or whereby 
an act, if a crime is aggravated in enormity, or pun¬ 
ishment; or whereby different or less evidence is re¬ 
quired to convict an offender than was required when 
the act was committed.” 

Art. 1 , § 9, 4. “No capitation or other direct tax 
shall be laid unless in proportion to the census or enu¬ 
meration herein before directed to be taken.” 

A capitation is a poll-tax, that is, a tax levied by 
the head. This clause requires, that in laying a poll- 
tax only three-fifths of the slaves should be counted. 
Three-fifths of the slaves, it will be recollected, are in¬ 
cluded in the enumeration of the population with 
reference to representation and direct taxes. 

Art. 1 , § 9, 5. “No tax or duty shall be laid on 
articles exported from any State. No preference shall 
be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to 
the ports of one State over those of another ; nor shall 
vessels bound to or from one State, be obliged to enter 
clear, or pay duties in another.” 

“ To enter,” is for the captain to report the arrival 
of the ship and the contents of the cargo, and gel 
leave to land the same. “ To clear,” is to report th<? 


TIIE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


13} 


ship and her intended voyage and cargo, and receive 
the necessary papers from the authorities. 

This requires the National Government to treat the 
different States with equal justice. Under the British 
colonial system, no American vessel could enter a port 
on the continent of Europe, unless it had previously 
entered and cleared from a British port. The object 
of this was to benefit British ports. Congress cannot 
pursue a similar course in regard to any one of the 
States. 

Art. 1, § 9,6. “No money shall be drawn from 
the treasury, but in consequence of appropriations 
made by law; and a regular statement and account 
of the receipts and expenditures of all public money 
shall be published from time to time.” 

The improper use of the public funds by any officer 
of government, is here guarded against, and additional 
responsibility thrown upon those who have charge of 
the treasury, by the publication of the receipts and 
expenditure. 

Art. 1, § 9, '7. “ No title of nobility shall be granted 
by the United States; and no person holding any 
office of profit or trust under them shall, without the 
consent of Congress, accept of any present, emolument, 
office, or title of any kind whatever, from any king, 
prince, or foreign State.” 

Titles of nobility are inconsistent with the equality 
which is the basis of republican institutions. The ro 


138 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


maining provision was intended to guard against for 
emn influence. The officials of one government have 

£5 ^ 

often been bribed to favor the interests of another, 
This provision of the Constitution is not a perfect 
safeguard against bribery, but it will act as a restraint 
at least, no one can be bribed by a title which he can¬ 
not accept. 

The States are also prohibited from granting any 
title of nobility. 

Art. 1, § 10,1. “No State shall enter into any treaty, 
alliance, or confederatian ; grant letters of marque and 
reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; make any 
thing but gold and silver coin a tender in payment 
of debts ; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, 
or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant 
any title of nobility.” 

If a State could enter into treaties with foreign 
nations, it would render useless the power given to the 
General Government to make treaties. One State 
might enter into engagements with foreign nations 
which might be very injurious to other States. The 
action of a single State might involve the vhole na¬ 
tion in war. In fact, the chances for war would be 
multiplied by the number of States. There could be 
no such thing as a supreme national government if th 
individual States could enter into treaties, alliances, or 

d 

confederation. We may here notice the impropriety 
of speaking of the States as sovereign States, when 


THE SCIENCE OF G OVERXMENT. 


139 


they are entirely destitute of tlie treaty-making 
power. 

If the States could grant letters of marque and 
reprisal, there would he constant danger of war, 
Each State might as well have power to declare war 
as to issue letters of marque. 

If each State could coin money, the coinage of the 
different States might he different. There might he 
as many different currencies as States. Those who 
have travelled in Europe, and found themselves com¬ 
pelled to use different kinds of money in the course of 
a few hours as they passed from one territory to 
another, can have some idea of the great inconvenience 
that would result from having different kinds of 
money in the different States. 

If the States possessed power to coin money con¬ 
currently with the General Government, and were to 
adopt and issue the same coins, there would not he the 
same security that there now is that the work would 
he faithfully done. 

Under the Confederation, the States had a con¬ 
current power with Congress to coin money; hut 
Congress had exclusive power to regulate the alloy and 
the value of the coin issued hy the States. The cost 
of coining is less, and the security for uniformity m 
value greater, hy vesting the power of coining ex 
clusively in the National Government. 

The prohibition relating to hills of credit waa 


140 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


designed to prevent the States from issuing pap<* 
money—that is, treasury notes or government promises 
to pay, intended to circulate as money. Before and 
during the Revolution, Congress and the legislatures 
of the States issued hills of credit or paper money 
The consequence was, the disappearance of gold and 
silver from circulation, and the continued depreciation 
of the hills till they became worthless. The evils of 
an irredeemable, depreciating currency are great 
beyond calculation. There can be no doubt as to the 
wisdom of this prohibition on the States, and it may 
be questioned if there would not have been equal wis¬ 
dom in extending it to the United States. 

This prohibition to issue bills of credit, does not 
deprive the States of the power to borrow money and 
to give bonds or certificates of indebtedness. Yv r hen 
the Constitution was formed, bills of credit signified a 
paper currency issued by the legislative power. 

No State can “ make any thing but gold and silver 
coin a tender in payment of debts.” “ A tender is an 
offer of a sum of money in satisfaction of a sum or 
claim, by producing and showing the amount to the 
creditor or party claiming, and expressing verbally a 
willingness to pay it. A mere offer to pay it is not, 
in legal strictness, a tender.” Gold and silver is the 
usual legal tender throughout the civilized world. 
Gold and silver alone constitute money. When a 
man contracts a debt, enters into an engagement to 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


141 


pay money, his creditor is wronged if he is obliged to 
take any thing else. 

The legislation of the States furnished many ex¬ 
amples of the evil guarded against by this prohibition. 
“ Property of any sort, however worthless, either re a. 
or personal, might be tendered by the debtor in pay¬ 
ment of his debt; and the creditor was compelled to 
take the property of the debtor, which he might seize 
on execution, at an appraisement wholly dispropor¬ 
tionate to its real value.” Such laws “ entailed the 
most enormous evils on the country; and introduced 
a system of fraud, chicanery, and profligacy which 
destroyed ail private confidence, industry, and enter¬ 
prise.” * 

The Constitution does not prohibit Congress from 
establishing by law a legal tender not consisting of 
gold and silver. It does not formally bestow the 
power to do it. It is silent on the subject. 

No State “shall pass any bill of attainder or ex 
post facto law.” Before the adoption of the Federal 
Constitution, every State, unless prevented by its 
own constitution, might pass bills of attainder and ex 
post facto laws. We have seen that Congress is for 
bidden to pass such laws. That prohibition would be 
of little consequence, if the same prohibition were not 
laid upon the States. Such laws were often passed 
by the States during the Revolutionary war. 

* Storj. 


142 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


No State shall pass any “law impairing the obli¬ 
gation of contracts.” The object of tl\is provision is 
to secure the inviolability of contracts. The word 
contract is here used in a much wider sense than that 
of an agreement between man and man. It includes 
legislative grants, charters, and compacts between 
States. If a State were to pass a law altering the 
terms of an existing contract or agreement between 
parties, the law would be null and void, because it 
would be unconstitutional. If a State grants certain 
privileges to a corporation, to a banking company for 
example, so long as the company complies with the 
terms and conditions of the grant, the legislature can¬ 
not repeal or change the character of the grant. 

A charter or act of incorporation is h contract in 
view of the Constitution. So long as the trustees do 
not violate their charter, it cannot be altered by the 
legislature without their consent. 

Does not this clause of the Constitution prohibit 
the States from passing insolvent laws ? It prohibits 
them from passing laws affecting debts contracted 
* before the passage of the law, and debts due to citi¬ 
zens of another State. The Supreme Court has de¬ 
cided that the States may pass laws discharging the 
debtor from debts contracted subsequently to the pas 
sage of the law. The preditor allowed the debt to be 
contracted knowing that the insolvent Jaw existed. 

Art. 1, § 10, 2. “No State shall, without the con* 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


143 


sent of tlie Congress, lay any imposts or duties on im- 
ports or exports, except what may be absolutely ne¬ 
cessary for executing its inspection laws; and the net 
produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any State 
on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the treas¬ 
ury of the United States; and all such laws shall be 
subject to the revision and control of the Congress. 
No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay 
any duty of tonnage, keep troops or ships of war, in 
time of peace, enter into any compact or agreement 
with another State, or with a foreign power, or engage 
in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent 
danger as will not admit of delay.” 

The object of an inspection law is to secure the 
purchaser against imposition, by an official examina¬ 
tion of the article, and a certificate as to the quality 
of the same. The interests of New York require that 
the flour sent from that port be of a good quality, or 
at least that it shall be what it purports to be. To 
secure this an inspector is appointed by the State, who 
inspects the flour about to be shipped. For this he 
must be paid, and if it be necessary for the execution 
of the law, the State may lay a duty to meet the ex¬ 
pense. If the duty brings in more than is necessary 
to execute the law, it must be paid over to the United 
States. If this were not required by the Constitu¬ 
tion, the State might raise a revenue from exports or 
imports, under pretence of making provision for the 


144 


THE SCIENCE OF GO"V EKNMENT. 


execution of her inspection laws. To prevent every 
thing of the kind, it is expressly provided that such 
laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the 
Congress. 

Tonnage is the number of tons burden which a ship 
can carry. A duty on tonnage is a tax proportioned 
to the tonnage of the ship. 

As the power to declare war is vested in 
Congress, and as the protection of the whole Union 
is confided to the National Government, there is 
no reason why any individual State should keep 
troops or armed ships in time of peace. In time 
of war, a State may be so situated as to render 
it necessary for her to raise troops in addition to 
those of the National Government. So also, when 
the State is in imminent danger of invasion, it is 
proper that the State should possess and exercise 
this power. 

We have thus considered the powers conferred 
on Congress by the Constitution, and the pro¬ 
hibitions on Congress and on the State legis¬ 
latures. We have seen that such powers were 
conferred on Congress, as were necessary to enable 
it effectually to provide for the common interests 
of the States, and the welfare of the whole as one 
nation. We have seen that each State has power 
to legislate on domestic interests, and that Congress 


THE SCIENCE OF GO VERNU'ENT. 


145 


is restrained from interfering with such legislation. 
The two systems of government, the National and 
the State, are sc adjusted as to work in harmo¬ 
ny, and unite in promoting the prosperity of the 
nation. 


7 


CHAPTER XXV. 


TOE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, 

Art. 2, § L. ‘'The executive power shall be vested 
in a President of the United States of America. He 
shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, 
together' with the Vice-President, chosen for the same 
term, be elected as follows.” 

'"V A prompt, vigorous, and faithful execution of the 
laws is essential to good government. Experience has 
shown, that such an execution of the laws is most 
likely to be secured when the executive department is 
distinct from the legislative. 

Experience has also shown that the executive 
power should be vested in a single person—that a 
single is better than a plural executive. 

Unity, secrecy, promptness of decision and action 
are best secured by a single executive. Differences 
of opinion, jealousies, and a divided responsibility are 
liable to take place in a plural executive. 

Rome had a plural executive in her two consuls. 
History records the resulting evils. 

Some of the American States during the IXevoiu* 


THE SCIEXCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


147 


tionary war had a plural executive. The executive 
power in Pennsylvania was at one time vested in a 
committee of thirteen. The palpable evils resulting, 
led all the States to adopt a single executive. It may, 
therefore, be regarded as a settled maxim in political 
science, that the executive power should be vested in 
a single persou. On this point the framers of the 
Constitution were unanimous. 

The President is elected for four years. There was 
a good deal of discussion on this point in the Federal 
Convention. Some wished to have the term of service 
much shorter, and some wished to have extended it to 
seven years. Hamilton would have had it to continue 
during good behavior. 

In favor of four years it may be said, that it is 
long enough to carry out a system of policy. If the 
executive power were possessed bi\t for one year, a 
system could only be entered upon; it could not be 
completed, or so far carried out as to be tested. Noth¬ 
ing important would be undertaken. To meet the 
exigencies of the hour would be all that the executive 
would attempt to do. 

On the contrary, were the executive power possess¬ 
ed for ten years, there would be danger of its abuse. 
All experience has shown that men cannot be trusted 
with power for any great length of time. The weak¬ 
ness and wickedness of man requires that great power 
should not be in the same hands for a great length of tinier 


148 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


It will be observed that the President’s term of 
office is intermediate between that of the representa¬ 
tive and the senator. The House of Representativea 
may be entirely changed, and two-thirds of the Senate, 
during one Presidential-term. If, therefore, the exec¬ 
utive power is seen to influence unduly the legisla¬ 
ture. the people can elect representatives and senators 
who will be ^ss subservient to his will. 

The President can be reelected as many times as 
the people may see fit. Some think he should not be 
reeligible. If this were the case, he would not shape 
his policy with reference to securing a reelection. On 
the other hand, he might pursue a course of corrup¬ 
tion which the hope of a reelection might prevent. 

If he were not reeligible, the services of a very 
valuable man might be lost when most needed. There 
are times when experience is of the utmost import¬ 
ance. It would be very unwise to prevent the people 
from availing themselves of the experience gained by 
four years service in the executive department. The 
loss to the country of Washington’s second term of 
service would have been irreparable. 

It should be remembered that the office of Presi¬ 
dent does not exist for the benefit of the politicians, 
but for the benefit of the people. The Constitution 
should make such - 1 provisions in respect to it, as will 
secure to the people the most faithful execution of the 
laws, not sue h as will give to political aspirants the 


TIIE SCIENCE OP GOVERNMENT. 149 

best opportunities of securing the exercise of execu¬ 
tive power. 

The Constitution makes provision for a Vice-Presi* 
lent, to he chosen at the same time and in the samo 
node as the President. It was the intention of the 
framers of the Constitution to make the office one of 
dignity, to which no one would be chosen who w 7 as 
not fully qualified to exercise the office of President. 
John Adams was chosen the first Vice-President, and 
Thomas Jefferson the second. Subsequently the office 
began to be regarded as an unimportant one; but the 
accession of three Vice-Presidents to the Presidency? 
in each case for nearly the full term of four years, has 
restored the importance of the office in the view of 
the people. Experience has shown the wisdom ot 
providing for the filling of the office of President, in 
case of his decease or removal, without having re¬ 
course to a special election. Hereafter, it is hoped, 
the people will be as careful in selecting their Vice- 
President as their President. 

Art. 2, § 1, 2. “Each State shall appoint, in such 
manner as the legislature thereof may direct, a num¬ 
ber of electors equal to the whole number of senators’ 
and representatives to which the State may be entitled 
in the Congress; but no senator or representative, or 
person holding an office of profit or trust under the 
United States, shall be appointed an elector.” 

When the Constitution went into operation, the 


150 


THE SCIENCE OP GOVERNMENT. 


Presidential Electors were in some States chosen by 
the legislatures, in others the legislatures directed 
that they should be chosen by the people. When 
John Jay was Governor of New York, the electors 
were chosen by the legislature. By calling an extra 
session of the legislature, he could have secured the 
election to the Presidency of his candidate,'and kept 
his party in power for at least four years longer. He 
judged that it “ did not become him to do it.” He 
would not use his power as governor to promote the 
ascendency of his party, though it could be legally 
done. 

At present, the electors in all tne States are chosen 
by the people. All persons holding offices of profit 
or trust under the United States, are prohibited from 
being electors. This provision was designed to pre¬ 
vent office-holders from exerting their official influence 
in the electoral college. The design of having electors 
was to secure a better choice for President than would 
be made by the people. It was thought and expected 
that the electors would select a man for President, 
and that they would be better qualified to make a se¬ 
lection than the people at large. 

The practical working of this provision of the 
Constitution has been entirely different from what 
was expected by those who made it. The electors 
have not been called on to select a candidate but to 
elect one already selected. The people might just aa 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


151 


well vote directly for President as to vote for electors, 
The system of electors has proved to be a useless 
piece of constitutional mechanism. 

Art. 2, § 1, 3. “ The Congress may determine the 
time of choosing the electors, and the day on which 
they shall give their votes, which day shall be the 
same throughout the United States.” * 

If the votes in different States were given at differ¬ 
ent times, there would be a greater opportunity for 
intrigue and corruption than if the votes were given 
on the same day. Suppose the votes were given at 
different times, and that the electors had voted in all 
the States except one, and that on the electors of that 
State the choice depended: a great temptation for cor¬ 
ruption would be offered. This is in a great measure 
avoided by having all the votes given on the same day. 

“In pursuance of the authority given by this 
clause, Congress in 1792 passed an act declaring that 
the electors shall be appointed in each State within 
thirty-four days preceding the first Wednesday in De¬ 
cember in every fourth year, succeeding the last elec¬ 
tion of President, according to the apportionment of 
senators and representatives then existing. The elect¬ 
ors chosen are required to meet and give their votes 
on the said first Wednesday in December, at such 
place in each State as shall be directed by the legisla¬ 
ture thereofi They are then to make and sign three 
certificates of all the votes by them given, and to seal 


152 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


up the same, certifying on each that a list of the votes 
for such State for President and Vice-President are 
contained therein, and are to appoint a person to take 
charge of and deliver one of the same certificates to 
the President of the Senate at the seat of government, 
before the first Wednesday of January then next en¬ 
suing ; another of the certificates is to be forwarded 
forthwith by the Post-office to the President of the 
Senate at the seat of government; and the third is to 
be delivered to the judge of the district in which the 
electors assembled.” * 

Art. 2, § 1, 4. “No person except a natural-born 
citizen, or a citizen of the United States at the time 
of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible 
to the office of President; neither shall any person be 
Eligible to that office who shall not have attained to 
the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a 
resident within the United States.” 

That the office of President should not be held b;y 
a foreigner was clear to all the members of the Fed¬ 
eral Convention. The exception in favor of those who 
were citizens at the time of the adoption of the Consti¬ 
tution was a compliment to those patriotic citizens of 
foreign birth who had deserved well of their adopted 
country. All that glass have passed away, and none 
are now' eligible to the office of President or Vice* 
President but native-born citizens. 



Story. 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


153 


The qualification as to age was designed to secure 
maturity of character and experience. 

A residence in the country is required that a 
knowledge of its affairs may be had, and due interest 
in its welfare felt. Both of these might be impaired 
by long residence in a foreign land. It is also a neces- 
sary that the people may have a full opportunity of 
knowing the character and merits of the candidate. 

A temporary residence abroad in the service of 
the country as an ambassador or public agent does 
not interrupt one’s residence as a citizen so as to dis¬ 
qualify him for the office of President. 

Art. 12 of Amendments. 1. “ The electors shall meet 
in their respective States, and vote by ballot for Pres¬ 
ident and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall 
not be an inhabitant of the same State with them¬ 
selves ; they shall name in their ballots the person 
voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the per¬ 
son voted for as Vice-President; and they shall make 
distinct lists of all the persons voted for as President, 
and of all the persons voted for as Vice-President, 
and of the number of votes for each, which lists 
they shall sign and certify, and transmit, sealed, to the 
seat of government of the United States, directed to 
tlie President of the Senate; the President of the 
Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and the 
House of Representatives, open all the certificates, 
and the votes shall then be counted; the person ha? 


154 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


ing the greatest number of votes for President shall 
be the President, if such number be a majority of 
the whole number of electors appointed ; and if 
no person have such majority, then, from the persons 
having the highest numbers, not exceeding three, 
on the list of those voted for as President, the 
House of Representatives shall choose immediately, 
by ballot, the President. But in choosing the Pres¬ 
ident, the votes shall be taken by States, the repre¬ 
sentation from each State having one vote; a quorum 
for this purpose shall consist of a member or members 
from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the 
States shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House 
of Representatives shall not choose a President, when¬ 
ever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before 
the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice- 
President shall act as President, as in case of the death 
or other constitutional disability of the President. 

2. “ The person having the greatest number of 
votes as Vice-President shall be the Vice-President, 
if such number be a majority of the whole number of 
electors appointed; and if no person have a majority, 
then, from the two highest numbers on the list, the Sen¬ 
ate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the 
purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole num¬ 
ber of senators; a majority of the whole number shall 

4 

be necessary to a choice. 

3. “ But no person constitutionally ineligible to the 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


155 


office of President, slmll be eligible to that of Vice- 
President of the United States.” 

This was not the mode of choosing the President 
originally provided by the Constitution, but is the re¬ 
sult of an amendment adopted in consequence of the 
evils which were found to result from the first mode. 

The original provision was, that two persons were 
to be voted for by the electors, one of whom, at least, 
not to be an inhabitant of the same States with them¬ 
selves. The one having the highest number of votes, 
if a majority of all the votes, was to be President. If 
more than one had a majority, and an equal number 
of votes, the House of Representatives was to choose 
one of them for President. When thus choosing a 
President, the house was to vote by States, each State 
having one vote, and a majority of all the States was 
necessary tc a choice. 

If nc person had a majority of the votes of the 
electors, then from the five highest on the list the 
house was to choose a President. 

In every case, after the choice of a President, the 
person having the greatest number of votes of the 
electors was to be Vice-President. If two or more had 
an equal number of votes, the Senate to choose, by 
i »allot, the Vice-President. 

At the first presidential election, Washington was 
unanimously chosen President, and John Adams Vice* 
President. 


156 


THE SCIEXCE 0E GOVEEXHENT. 


At the second election, Washington received the 
votes of all the electors, and Adams a majority. 

At the third election, Adams was elected President 
and Jefferson Wee-President. 

At the fourth election, Jefferson and Burr received 
a majority of the votes of all the electors and an equal 
number of votes. The choice devolved upon the 
House of Representatives. After a great many ballot- 
ings, resulting in a tie, Jefferson was at length chosen 
in consequence of some of his opponents casting blank 
votes. Burr became Vice-President. 

The Constitution was then amended by the adop¬ 
tion of the mode of choice given above. 

Since then, the choice has once devolved on the 
House of Representatives, and resulted in the choice 
of John Quincy Adams. General Jackson was one of 
the candidates, and received the highest number of 
the votes of the electors. Adams was one of the three 
having the highest number of votes, and hence was 
eligible for election by the House. 

Art. 2, § 1, 5. “ In case of the removal of the Presi¬ 
dent from office, or of his death, resignation, or in¬ 
ability to discharge the powers and duties of said 
office, the same shall devolve on the Vice-President, 
and the Congress may by law provide for the case of 
removal, cheath, resignation, or inability, both of the 
President and Vice-President, declaring what officer 
shall then act as President, and such officer shall acv 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 157 

accordingly until the disability be removed or a Presi¬ 
dent be elected.” 

The wisdom of this provision is seen in the fact 
that on three occasions, the President has died in 
office, and his constitutional successor has taken his 
place without the slightest interruption of the affairs 
of government. By the death of President Wm. IT. 
Harrison, John Tyler became President; by the death 
of President Taylor, Millard Fillmore; and by the 
death of President Lincoln, Andrew Johnson. 

Congress has directed that in case of the disability 
both of the President and Vice-President, the president 
of the Senate pro tempore , and in case there is no 
president, then the Speaker of the House of Represent¬ 
atives, shall act as President. 

Art. 2, § 1, 6. “ The President shall, at stated times, 
receive for his services a compensation, which shall 
neither be increased nor diminished during the period 
for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not 
receive within that period any other emolument from 
the United State's, or any of them.” 

This provision renders the President independent 
of Congress. If his salary could be increased, he 
might be tempted to conform to the wishes of the 
T house to gain an increase of income. If his salary 
could be diminished, the house migln use that powei 
to make him subservient. 


158 


THE SCIENCE OP GOVERNMENT. 


The salary of the President remains as fixed by tho 
first Congress, at $25,000 a year. 

Art. 2, § 1, 7, 8. “Before he enter on the execu¬ 
tion of his office, he shall take the following oath or 
affirmation: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I 
will faithfully execute the office of President of the 
United States, and will, to the best of my ability, 
preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the 
United States.” 


CHAPTER XV. 


THE EXECUTIVE (CONTINUED), 

Art. 2, § 2, 1 . “ The President shall be Commander- 
m-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, 
and of the militia of the several States when called into 
the actual service of the United States; he may require 
the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each 
of the executive departments, upon any subject 
relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he 
shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for 
offences against the United States, except in cases of 
impeachment.” 

The military power is that by which the laws, if 
need be, are to be executed, and peace maintained and 
invasion resisted. It should therefore be under the 
control of the executive. This power does not mako 
the President a military despot. He is bound to exer¬ 
cise it in accordance with the Constitution and laws. 
Failing to do so, he is liable to impeachment and dis¬ 
missal from office. 

The heads of departments are the constitutional 


ICO 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


advisers of the President. Their advice will be given 
under a deeper sense of responsibility, if it be in 
writing, and liable to be published. On all important 
occasions, Washington required the written advice ot 
the heads of departments. 

The pardoning power is a consequence of the ini 
perfection of law and human nature. A man may bo 
convicted of a crime on false testimony. The falsehood 
may be discovered, but the court cannot reverse its de¬ 
cision. The pardoning power here comes in, and re¬ 
pairs, as far as may be, the injustice of the law, oi 
rather of the judicial decision. The pardoning power 
was not given to the executive that he might have 
scope for exercising his tenderness of heart. It was 
given to further the ends of justice. 

The exception to the President’s power of pardon 
relates to cases of impeachment. If the President 
could pardon those convicted on impeachment, he 
could make his favorites safe, whatever political of 
fences they might commit. 

There is also an implied limitation to the pardon 
ing power, in case of punishment, by each branch of 
the legislature, for contempt of the House and viola¬ 
tion of its rules. If the President could set at liberty 
one imprisoned for contempt of Congress, they would 
be wholly dependent on his good will for the exercise 
of their powers. 

Art. 2, § 2, 2. “ He shall have p >wer, by and with 


TME SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 

the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, 
provided two-thirds of the senators present concur; 
and lie shall nominate, and by and with the advice and 
consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, and 
other public ministers, and consuls, judges of the su 
preme court, and all other officers of the United 
States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise 
provided for, and which shall be established by law; 
but Congress may by law vest the appointment of 
such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the Pres¬ 
ident alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of 
departments.” 

The power of making treaties is a most important 
power. On its exercise depends in a great measure 
the relation of the country to foreign powers. The 
treaties made by the President, and approved by the 
Senate, become the supreme law of the land. Still 
this does not give the President and Senate power to 
override the Constitution. A power given by the 
Constitution must be exercised in conformity to it. 

The power to declare war, we have seen, is vested 
in Congress. The power to make peace comes under 
the treaty-making power, and hence belongs to the 
President and Senate. 

Th« power to make treaties is wisely lodged with 
the President and Senate. The President, having a 
constant eye upon foreign affairs, can more promptly 
meet the demands of emergencies, than a legislative 


1G2 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT* 


body. Secrecy is also supposed oftentimes to be ne* 
cessary in managing affairs with foreign nations, and 
secrecy is impossible in a legislative body. Negotia¬ 
tions can be conducted by the President or Secretary 
of State, wdthout communicating with the public* or 
any department till they are finished; when they are 
laid before the Senate. When it has been approved 
by the Senate and signed by the President, it goes 
into operation according to the terms therein con¬ 
tained. 

The Senate is more suitable than a larger and more 
popular body to consider the great questions relating 
to the intercourse of nations. The assent of two-thirds 
of the Senate must be given in order to render a treaty 
binding. No hasty or unwise measure would be 
likely to receive the solemn assent of two-thirds of a 
body of men of such talents, experience, and integ¬ 
rity as are supposed to constitute the Senate. 

The Constitution does not state expressly whether 
the Senate shall be consulted in the formation of trea¬ 
ties, or simply when the treaty has been formed. 
Washington thought that the executive might re¬ 
quire the Senate to advise before as well as after the 
formation of a treaty. “ Since that period, the Senate 
have been rarely if ever consulted, until after a treaty 
has been completed, and laid before them for ratifica¬ 
tion, When so laid before the Senate, that body is in 
the habit of deliberating upon it, as indeed it does 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


163 


npon all executive business, in secret, and with closed 
doors. The Senate may wholly reject the treaty, of 
advise and consent to a ratification of part of the ar¬ 
ticles, rejecting others, or recommend additional or 
explanatory articles. In the event of a partial ratifi¬ 
cation, the treaty does not become the law of the land 
until the President and the foreign sovereign have 
each assented to the modifications proposed by the 
Senate.” 

The President is not bound to ratify a treaty when 
approved by the Senate. He may still constitution¬ 
ally decline to ratify it. 

Suppose the President and Senate make a treaty, 
the execution of which requires a sum of money drawn 
from the national treasury. No money can be drawn 
from the treasury except by direction of Congress, 
that is, the Senate and House of Representatives. 
Are the representatives bound to vote for the appro¬ 
priation required by the treaty, or may they examine 
the treaty and withhold the appropriation if they do 
not approve it ? 

It was claimed during the second administration 
of Washington, that the house had a right to with 
hold the appropriation if it deemed the treaty unwise. 
An earnest debate took place in the house on this sul- 
ject, when the executive called on Congress to fur¬ 
nish the funds needed to carry into effect the treaty 
made with Great Britain by John Jay in 1794 W ash* 


164 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


ington held that the Constitution had giver-, t<s th« 
President and Senate the power to make treaties, and 
accordingly he declined to lay before the house docu¬ 
ments relating to the treaty, which they requested. 

If it were optional with the house to grant or re¬ 
fuse the appropriations required by a treaty, then 
the President and Senate do not possess power to 
make treaties: but the Constitution gives them this 
power. 

By the Constitution of Great Britain, the king pos¬ 
sesses power to declare war and make peace. But as 
we have seen, he cannot carry on war unless the House 
of Commons are ready to furnish the means. He may 
be compelled to make peace whenever the house de¬ 
sires it. They have nothing to do but to 'withhold 
supplies, and the war must cease. 

The power of appointing to office is vested in the 
President, by and with the advice and consent of the 
Senate. In Great Britain, the ministers, judges, and 
all high officers are appointed by the king, that is by 
the ministers acting in his name. 

By the provision of the Constitution requiring the 
consent of the Senate, a restraint is placed upon the 
executive, but not a restraint that will be likely to 
interfere with the efficient exercise of his powers. 
The Senate may prevent the appointment of incompe¬ 
tent or corrupt favorites of the President. They 
would rarely refuse to confirm a man of undoubted 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


165 


ability, integrity and fitness for tlie office to which he 
may he nominated. 

The power to appoint ambassadors implies power 
to appoint diplomatic officers of lower rank. An am¬ 
bassador is a diplomatic officer of the highest rank. 
Next in order come envoys and ministers plenipoten¬ 
tiary ; then ministers resident; and lastly charges 
d’affaires. There is, however, no essential difference 
between ambassadors and ministers plenipotentiary. 

Consuls are not regarded as diplomatic officers. 
They are “ commercial agents of the Government, ap¬ 
pointed and resident in a foreign country, to attend 
to the commercial rights and privileges of his own 
country, and its citizens in such foreign country.” 

The Constitution is silent as to the power of re¬ 
moval from office. It would be natural to conclude 
that the power diat appoints to office should have the 
power to remove. But in Washington’s administra¬ 
tion, a majority of Congress wrnre of opinion that the 
power of removal from office rested with the Presi¬ 
dent alone. At the same time, it was thought that 
the President would be liable to impeachment if he 
were to remove an officer without due cause. To 
make room for a political partisan, w r ould not have 
been deemed good cause for removal in the days of 
Washington. Removal from office on account of clif 
ference in political opinions was unknown in the early 
days of the republic. 


166 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


Art. 2, § 2, 3. “ The President shall have power to 
fill uj3 all vacancies that may happen during the recess 
of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall 
expire at the end of their next session.” 

This power is necessary to the conduct of public 
affairs. It is not, perhaps, sufficiently well guarded. 
The President may, to all intents and purposes, keep a 
man in office contrary to the advice and consent of the 
Senate. Suppose he removes the Secretary of State 
and appoints another in the recess of the Senate. In 
December, Congress assembles; but the President 
need not lay the appointment of the Secretary of State 
before the Senate until just as the session is about to 
expire. The Secretary’s commission is good till the 
end of the session. Suppose that at the end of the 
session his name is sent to the Senate and is rejected. 
His commission is at ’an end, but the President may 
decline to fill the vacancy, and may reappoint him the 
day after the session has closed. Ilis commission is 
then good till the expiration of the next session of the 
Senate. This abuse of this constitutional provision is 
not likely to occur. 

Art. 2, § 3. “ He shall, from time to time, give to 
the Congress information of the state of the Union, 
and recommend to their consideration such measures 
as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may on 
extraordinary occasions convene both houses, or eit her 
of them, and in case of disagreement between them 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


167 


with respect to the time of adjournment, he maj 
adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; 
he shall receive ambassadors and other public minis¬ 
ters ; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully 
executed, and shall commission all the officers of the 
United States.” 

It is customary for the President to send a message 
to Congress at the opening of each session, in which 
he recommends such measures and makes such sugges¬ 
tions as he may see lit. The British Parliament is 
opened by a speech from the throne. Washington 
addressed Congress at the opening of the session in 
a speech, Adams followed his example. Jefferson 
adopted the practice of sending a message, and his 
example has been followed by all his successors. 

It is necessary that the President should have the 
power of calling special sessions of Congress. Events, 
like the filing upon Fort Sumter, may occur in the 
recess of Congress, which may require immediate 
legislative action. 

In monarchical governments, ambassadors and other 
ministers above the charge d’affaires, are received by 
the sovereign. The President receives ambassadors 
and all other ministers sent to the United States. This 
is not a mere form. Grave consequences may be con 
uected with the exercise of this power. To receive an 
ambassador is to recognize the country from which 
he comes as belonging to the commonwealth of 


168 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT 


nations. Suppose Ireland were to rebel against the 
British government and establish a separate govern¬ 
ment, and send an ambassador to the United States. 
If he receives him, it is tantamount to recognizing 
Ireland as an independent nation. If the President 
makes such a recognition, the Constitution has no¬ 
where said that Congress may repudiate said re¬ 
cognition. 

The President may refuse to receive an ambassador 
or public minister. Should he do so, his conduct 
would be likely to give offence to the nation whence 
the minister came, but it would not afford any just 
cause of war. According to the law of nations, one 
nation may lawfully refuse to receive the ambassador 
of another nation. 

Art. 2, § 4. “ The President, Vice-President, and 
all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed 
from office on impeachment for, and conviction of trea¬ 
son, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” 

“ All officers of the United States who hold their 
appointments under the National Government, wheth¬ 
er their duties are executive or judicial in the 
highest or in the lowest department of the govern¬ 
ment, with the exception of officers in the army anil 
navy, are properly civil officers within the meaning of 
the Constitution, and liable to impeachment.” 

By the Constitution, impeachment is confined to 
officers of the government. In England all the king’s 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


169 


subjects may be impeached by the House of Commons* 
and tried by the House of Lords, and punished, if 
declared guilty. 

The executive power of the English Government is 
vested in the king, who at his coronation is sworn to 
govern the realm “ according to the statutes in par¬ 
liament agreed on, and the laws and customs of the 
same.” 

The king appoints his ministers, who perform alit 
executive acts in his name, and are responsible to the 
nation. It is a maxim of the English Constitution 
that “ the king can do no wrong,” but if his ministers 
do wrong, they cannot plead the king’s commands in 
justification. 

The ministers are termed the administration. The 
character of the administration depends upon the 
character of the majority of the House of Commons. 
If a majority of the House are whigs, the administra¬ 
tion will be a whig administration—that is, the king 
will send for a leading whig statesman and tell him 
to form an administration. He selects such men for 
his associates as he thinks best, and they are appointed 
by the king. The person who forms the administra¬ 
tion is called the Prime Minister, and selects his office, 
commonly that of the first Lord of the Treasury. 

The cabinet or cabinet council consists of such of the 
prominent ministers as are more immediately in the 
confidence of the king, who are summoned to consult 
8 


170 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


upon executive matters. All the members of the minis¬ 
try do not belong to the cabinet. 

If, while a whig ministry are in power, the politi¬ 
cal character of the House of Commons should change 
and a majority become tories, one of two things 
would take place. The ministers would resign and a 
tory administration would be formed, or parliament 
would be dissolved and a new election held. If in 
the new parliament the majority were whigs, the 
ministers would remain in office :• if not, they would 
resign. Thus while the ministers are said to hold 
office at the will of the king, they really hold office at 
the will of the majority in the House of Commons. 
Changes in the administration in England are, con¬ 
sequently, more frequent than in the United States. 

When the English ministers go out of office, they 
are entitled to pensions for life. The retiring pension 
of the Lord Chancellor is $25,000 a year. 

The king is commander-in-chief of the army and 
navy, appoints all military and naval officers, can raise 
and regulate armies and fleets, provided parliament 
furnish him with the means. He has the sole power 
of erecting courts of judicature, and of appointing 
judges, who hold office during good behavior. 

The Privy Council consists of such persons as the 
king sees fit to appoint. Its dissolution takes place 
six months after the death of the king, unless other¬ 
wise determined by his successor. 


TELE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 171 

The privy council have power to decide questions 
relating to colonial charters and rights. The appeals 
of the American colonies before the Revolution were 
to the king in council—meaning the privy council. 

Orders in council are orders issued by the king 
with and by the advice of the privy council. Thes 
orders usually relate' to matters connected with 


commerce. 


CHAPTER XVI 


THE JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 

The office of the judiciary department is to inter* 
pret and apply the laws. Security of person and 
property depend more more upon the stability and in¬ 
tegrity of the judiciary than upon any other depart¬ 
ment of the government. Where there is no security 
of property, where justice is not administered between 
man and man, the fundamental condition of national 
prosperity is wanting. 

The framers of the Constitution were duly im¬ 
pressed with the importance of an able and independ¬ 
ent national judiciary. 

Art. 3, § 1 . “The judicial power of the United 
States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in 
such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to 
time ordain and establish. The judges both of the 
Supreme and inferior courts shall hold their offices 
luring good behavior, and shall at stated times re¬ 
vive for their services a compensation which shall not 
be diminished during their continuance in office.” 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


173 


The national courts were organized by act of Con¬ 
gress, Sept. 24, ] 789. The act was drawn up by Oliver 
Ellsworth, afterwards Chief Justice of the United 
States, Such changes and modifications were made 
froir time to time as the increase in population and ter¬ 
ritory required. The last act of Congress respecting 
the organization of the courts was passed in 1862. 

There are three national courts, viz., the Supreme 
Court, the Circuit Courts, and the District Courts. 

The Supreme Court consists of a chief justice and 
nine justices, any live of whom constitute a quorum. 
It holds one term annually, commencing on the first 
Monday in December, at Washington. Except in a 
few eases which will be mentioned hereafter, it is oc¬ 
cupied in bearing and deciding cases on appeal from 
other courts. As this is the highest judicial tribunal 
known to the Constitution, there is no appeal from its 
decisions. 

The United States are divided into ten judicial 
circuits, and also into districts. The judges of the 
Supreme Court are the circuit judges; and those of 
the district courts are the district judges. 

The Circuit Courts are courts held by a circuit 
judge, that is, by one of the judges of the Supreme 
Court, assisted by a district judge. In each of the 
ton circuits into which the United States are divided, 
except in some of the extreme Southwestern States, 
two circuit courjts are held annually. 


174 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


J, The first circuit includes Maine, New Hampshire^ 
Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. 

The second, New York, Vermont, and Connecticut. 

The third, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. 

The fourth, Delaware, Virginia, Maryland, and 
North Carolina. 

The fifth, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Ala¬ 
bama. and Mississippi. 

The sixth, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Kentucky, 
and Tennessee. 

The seventh, Ohio and Michigan. 

The eighth, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin. 

The ninth, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas. 

The tenth, California and Oregon. 

There is also a Supreme Court in the District of 
Columbia, with a chief justice and three judges. 

The District Courts are those held by the district 
judges. In most of the districts, the judge holds an¬ 
nually four stated terms, and some special terms. 

The other officers of the national courts besides the 
judges, are, the Attorney-General, the District-Attor¬ 
neys, the Marshals, and the Clerks. 

The Attorney-General is appointed by the Pres- 
dent, with the advice and consent of the Senate, and 
s a member of the cabinet. It is his duty to prosecute 
end conduct all suits in the Supreme Court in which 
the United States are concerned, and tc g*^e his ad¬ 
vice and opinion upon questions of law whu > required 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


H5 


by the President, or the heads of the depart¬ 
ments. 

Each judicial district has a district attorney. The 
district attorneys prosecute and conduct all suits in 
the circuit and district courts in which the United 
States are concerned. They often receive instruction 
from the attorney-general. 

Each judicial district has also a Marshal. His du¬ 
ties are similar to those of a sheriff. He is to the 
United States courts what the sheriff is to the superior 
State courts. 

“ A Sheriff is the officer to whom all the precepts 
of the superior courts of the several States is always 
directed for execution. In the commencement of civil 
causes he serves the writ, and in cases requiring it 
arrests and takes bail. When a cause comes to trial, 
he summons and returns the jury; and when it is de¬ 
termined, he sees the judgment of the court carried 
into execution. In criminal matters he also arrests 
and imprisons; he returns the jury; he has the custody 
of the delinquent, and he executes the sentence of the 
court though it extend to death itself” * 

The Clerks are appointed by the judges, the ap¬ 
pointment being thus vested by a law of Congress. 
The Supreme Court, and each of the district courts, 
has its clerk. The clerk has the custody of the seal 
and records of the court, signs and seals all processes 


* Burrill. 


m 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


The first circuit includes Maine, New Hampshire^ 
Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. 

The second, New York, Vermont, and Connecticut. 

The third, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. 

The fourth, Delaware, Virginia, Maryland, and 
North Carolina. 

The fifth, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Ala¬ 
bama, and Mississippi. 

The sixth, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Kentucky, 
and Tennessee. 

The seventh, Ohio and Michigan. 

The eighth, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin. 

The ninth, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas. 

The tenth, California and Oregon. 

There is also a Supreme Court in the District of 
Columbia, with a chief justice and three judges. 

The District Courts are those held by the district 
judges. In most of the districts, the judge holds an¬ 
nually four stated terms, and some special terms. 

The other officers of the national courts besides the 
judges, are, the Attorney-General, the District-Attor¬ 
neys, the Marshals, and the Clerks. 

The Attorney-General is appointed by the Pres- 
dent, with the advice and consent of the Senate, and 
s a member of the cabinet. It is his duty to prosecute 
tnd conduct all suits in the Supreme Court in which 
the United States are concerned, and tc g-’re his ad¬ 
vice and opinion upon questions of law whe > required 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 115 

by the President, or the heads of the depart¬ 
ments. 

Each judicial district has a district attorney. The 
district attorneys prosecute and conduct all suits in 
the circuit and district courts in which the United 
States are concerned. They often receive instruction 
from the attorney-general 

Each judicial district has also a Marshal. His du¬ 
ties are similar to those of a sheriff. He is to the 
United States courts what the sheriff is to the superior 
State courts. 

“ A Sheriff is the officer to whom all the precepts 
of the superior courts of the several States is always 
directed for execution. In the commencement of civil 
causes he serves the writ, and in cases requiring it 
arrests and takes bail. When a cause comes to trial, 
he summons and returns the jury; and when it is de¬ 
termined, he sees the judgment of the court carried 
into execution. In criminal matters he also arrests 
and imprisons; he returns the jury; he has the custody 
of the delinquent, and he executes the sentence of the 
court though it extend to death itself” * 

o 

The Clerks are appointed by the judges, the ap¬ 
pointment being thus vested by a law of Congress. 
The Supreme Court, and each of the district courts, 
has its clerk. The clerk has the custody of the seal 
and records of the court, signs and seals all processes 


* BurrilL 


1 IQ 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


and records of the proceedings and judgment.? of th€ 
courts. He receives the moneys paid into the coui't, 
and at every regular session exhibits an account of all 
the moneys remaining in court. The clerk of the 
district court is, ex officio> clerk of the circuit court in 
that district. 

The judges of the United States courts are ap¬ 
pointed by the President, with the consent of the Sen¬ 
ate, and hold office during good behavior. In regard 
to the inode of appointment and the tenure of office, 
there was but one opinion among the framers of the 
Constitution. 

It is asked, Why should not the judges, as well as 
the members of the legislature, be elected by the peo¬ 
ple ? The reply is, such a course should be pursued 
as will result in securing the most competent and up¬ 
right judges. Our fathers thought that the President 
and Senate would be better qualified than the mass 
of the people to select men forjudges. 

It is desirable that the judges be independent, so 
that they may not be in danger of being biassed by 
their interest in the exercise of their official power. 
To secure this end, the tenure of office is not made to 
depend upon the will of any men in office, nor upon 
the will of the people, but upon the good behavior of 
the judge. If he is faithful to his trust, no earthly 
power can remove him. If he is unfaithful, he may 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


177 


be impeached by the House of Representatives, and 
convicted and removed from office by the Senate. 

In monarchical governments, if the judge holds 
office at the will of the monarch, he must, when called 
to give a decision in which the monarch has an inter¬ 
est, decide so as to please him, or he may be turned 
out of office. The judges of England formerly held 
office at the will of the king. They were compelled 
to be subservient to the court, or lose their places. 
England owes much to those judges who, under such 
circumstances, decided according to law and justice, 
and preferred to lose the emoluments of office to de¬ 
ciding contrary to the right. 

If the judges are elected by the people for a lim¬ 
ited time, they must please the dominant party, if 
they would secure a reelection. They may thus be as 
subservient to a party as the judges of England, in 
former days, were to the court. 

It is objected that the tenure of office during good 
behavior has a tendency to make men arbitrary and 
haughty. If the judges make arbitrary decisions, 
they are liable to impeachment. Haughtiness of man¬ 
ner may not be pleasant, but a judge of haughty man¬ 
ners who decides right, is better than a judge of pleas¬ 
ant manners who decides wrong. 

The compensation of the judges is fixed by Con¬ 
gress. If it could be diminished during their continu¬ 
ance m office, they would not be independent ol th* 
S* 


1T8 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


legislative department. Congress might starve them 
into subserviency. 

Art. 3, § 2, 1 . “ The judicial power shall extend 
to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this Con¬ 
stitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties 
made, or which shall be made under their authority; 
to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public minis¬ 
ters and consuls; to all cases of admiralty and mari¬ 
time jurisdiction ; to controversies to which the United 
States shall be a party; to controversies between 
two or more States, between a State and citizens of 
another State, between citizens of different States, 
between citizens of the same State claiming lands 
under grants of different States, and between a State 
or the citizens thereof, and foreign States, citizens, or 
subjects.” 

The judicial power extends to all cases in law and 
equity arising under the Constitution, laws, and trea¬ 
ties of the United States. A case arises, when a suit 
is brought by some party in regular form, the decis¬ 
ion of which involves the interpretation of some pro¬ 
vision of the Constitution, or of some law, or of some 
treaty. 

Suppose a State should pass an act making bank 
notes a legal tender. A creditor refuses to receive 
them, and brings a suit to recover his debt. The 
debtor claims that he has made a legal tender of bank 
notes. If the case should be decided against the creJ 


THE SCIENCE OE GOVERNMENT. 


179 


itor, he would appeal to the United States court, and 
the court would pronounce the State law mating 
bank notes a legal tender null and void. That would 
furnish an example of a case arising under the Consti* 


tution. 

Again, suppose a merchant seeks to evade the law 
of Congress relating to revenue. His goods are 
seized and confiscated according to law. That 
would furnish an example of a case arising under 
the laws. 

Again, suppose a treaty existed between Great 
Britain and the United States, in which the latter 
engaged to prohibit the exportation of arms to Ireland. 
A citizen of New York is detected shipping arms to 
Ireland. He is arrested and tried by the United 
States court and punished. This would be a case 
arising under a treaty. 

The Supreme Court' has jurisdiction in equity as 
well as law. By equity is meant a system of juris¬ 
prudence, the object of which is to secure justice when 
it cannot be reached by the courts of law. Those 
courts are bound to adhere to the law in their decis¬ 
ions, though the decisions should be manifestly unjust. 
Equity jurisprudence “is an elaborate system of rules 
and processes, administered in many cases by distinct 
tribunals-(termed courts of chancery) and with exclu 
Bive jurisdiction over certain subjects, such as trusts, 
infants, and the specific performance of contracts.’ 1 


182 


THE SCIENCE OE GOVERNMENT. 


or more States may thus carry on a suit before the 
Supreme Court, the one as plaintiff, the other as de¬ 
fendant. Controversies often arise between States, 
and the Constitution wisely refers them for decision to 
the Supreme Court. 

“Between a State and the citizens of anothei 
State.” This provision authorized individuals in one 
State to bring a suit against another State. A great 
many suits were brought against States by their cred¬ 
itors to enforce the payment of their debts or othei 
claims. This caused an amendment to the Constitu¬ 
tion to be adopted, which prevented individuals from 
bringing a suit against a State. The amendment is as 
follows: “The judicial power of the United States 
shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or 
equity commenced or prosecuted against one of the 
United States by citizens of another State, or by citi¬ 
zens or subjects of any foreign State.” 

“ Controveries between citizens of different States.” , 
But for this provision each State would be “ obliged 
to acquiesce in the degree of justice which another 
State might choose to yield to its citizens.” Now, a 
citizen of New York, having a claim against a 
citizen of Massachusetts, may bring a suit either in 
the courts of Massachusetts or in the United States 
courts. 

“ Controversies between citizens of the same Stata 
claiming lands under grant of different States.” 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


183 


The design of this clause is to provide a tribunal 
Having no interest on the one side more than on the 
other. Suppose citizens of Ohio claim certain lands. 
Tne one party claims that the lands were granted 
them by Connecticut, and the other party claim the 
lands were granted them by Ohio. Both claims can 
not be valid. The United States court is evidently 
the suitable one to make the decision. 

“ Controversies between a State, or citizens thereof 
and foreign States, citizens, or subjects.” 

Questions in which foreigners are parties are liable 
to involve national questions, and hence should be de¬ 
cided by national tribunals. A decision in the case of 
a foreigner in which the treaty with his country should 
be disregarded, would be an offence against that 
nation. 

A foreign State cannot become a party in a suit in 
any of the United States tribunals, unless it gives its 
consent to the same. 

Foreigners residing in the country have a right to 
sue in the United States courts. In case of war this 
right is suspended till peace is restored. 

Art. 3, § 2, 2. “ In all cases affecting ambassadors, 
other public ministers and consuls, and those in which 
a State shall be a party, the Supreme Court shall have 
original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before men¬ 
tioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate juris¬ 
diction, both as to law and fact, with such excep- 


184 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


tions and under such regulations as Congress shall 
make.” 

It will be observed that there are only a few cases 
in which actions can be commenced in the Suprem 
Court. The principal business of the Supreme Cour 
is to review, upon appeal, the decisions of the inferior 
courts. 

Art. 3, § 2, 3. “ The trial of all crimes, except in 

cases of impeachment, shall be by jury; and such trial 
shall be held in the State where the said crimes shall 
have been committed; but when not committed with 
in any State, the trial shall be at such place or places 
as the Congress may by law have directed.” 

The trial by jury has been enjoyed in England 
from the time the Magna Charta was granted by 
King John. It was brought to this country by our 
fathers, and is rendered doubly secure by this provision 
of the Constitution. 

In cases tried by jury, there are in fact two kinds 
of judges, the permanent and the transient. The per¬ 
manent consist of the judge or judges belonging to 
the court^men supposed to be learned in the law and 
possessed'’ of superior talent. The transient are the 
jurors, who are twelve citizens selected for the occa¬ 
sion. The judge or judges decide all questions of law 
involved in the case. The jurors decide all questions 
of fact. No man can be convicted of a crime unless 
in the judgment of all the jurors he is guilty. Trial 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


186 


by jury is regarded as the great safeguard of personal 
liberty. 

Au additional safeguard against injustice is found 
in the provision requiring the accused to be tried in 
the State where the crime was committed. If a trial 
could be ordered in a distant State, the accused might 
be unable to secure the attendance of the witnesses. 
It may be said that it is not probable that such a 
manifest departure from justice would ever take place 
but similar acts of injustice have been perpetrated, and 
it is wise to have safeguards against them. 

We have seen that the Supreme Court has original 
jurisdiction only in a few cases, and that it is chiefly 
employed in the exercise of its appellate jurisdiction. 
“But the exercise of appellate jurisdiction is far from 
being limited by the terms of the Constitution to the 
Supreme Court. There can be no doubt that Con¬ 
gress may create a succession of inferior tribunals, in 
each of which it may vest appellate as well as original 
jurisdiction. The judicial power is delegated by the 
Constitution in the most general terms, and may, 
therefore, be exercised by Congress, under every va¬ 
riety of form of appellate or original jurisdiction.” * 
Appeals 'may, in many cases, be made from the State 
courts to the National courts. The framers and 
friends of the Constitution pending its adoption by the 
people, admitted that it was the design of the Con 
* Story. 


186 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


titution to extend the appellate power to the State 
courts. This was made a ground of attack by its 
enemies. 

“It is an historical fact, that the Supreme Court of 
the United States have, from time to time, sustained 
this appellate jurisdiction in a great variety of cases, 
brought from the tribunals of the most important 
States in the Union.” 

The power of the National courts to entertain 
appeals from the State courts is necessary to uniform 
ity of decisions upon all subjects in any way connect¬ 
ed with the Constitution and laws of the United 
States. Different decisions might be made in different 
States, and if there were no revising authority to con¬ 
trol and “ harmonize them into uniformity, the laws, 
treaties, and the Constitution of the United States 
would be different in different States, and might, per¬ 
haps, never have precisely the same construction, 
obligation, or efficiency in any two States.” 

The judiciary department of our government has 
commanded the respect and veneration of the country. 
John Jay was the first chief justice. Washington 
offered him his choice of places when organizing the 
government, but intimated his belief that the judiciary 
was his proper place. 

When he resigned in order to become Governor 
of New York, Oliver Ellsworth was appointed chief 
justice, and on his resigning in consequence of having 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 187 

been appointed Minister to France, John Marshall of 
Virginia was appointed. He discharged the duties 
of the office for thirty-five years. He ranked among 
the ablest jurists of his time. 

The superior courts of England are the court of 
chancery,, and the three common law courts of king’s 
bench, common pleas, and exchequer. They are all 
held at Westminster, and are often termed the Courts 
at Westminster. 

The court of chancery is the highest court in the 
kingdom, and is both a court of equity and of common 
law. The equitable jurisdiction embraces the principal 
and most important business of the court. 

“There are in fact five superior courts of chancery 
in England, viz.: the High Court of Chancery , pre¬ 
sided over by the Lord High Chancellor of Great 
Britain, to whom an appeal lies from the others; the 
Court of the Master of the Rolls , who is assistant to 
the Lord Chancellor, when present, and his deputy 
when absent; and the Court of the Vice- Chancellor 
of England. Two additional vice-chancellors have 
been recently appointed with powers precisely similar 
to those of the vice-chancellor of England.” * 

The king’s bench is the highest court of common 
law in England. It consists of a chief justice and four 
associate or puisne justices, as they are termed. ‘ I 
takes cognisance both of criminal and civil causes; the 


* Burrill. 


188 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


former in what is called the crown side or crown office, 
the latter m the plea side of the court. Anciently its 
jurisdiction was confined to criminal matters and 
pleas of the crown, and to civil actions of trespass, but 
it gradually usurped a jurisdiction over all actions 
between subject and subject, except real actions, in 
which it is now confirmed.” 

Real actions are actions brought for the recovery 
of real property, such as houses and lands. 

The court of common pleas consists of a chief 
justice and four other judges. This court has al¬ 
ways exercised an exclusive jurisdiction over real 
actions. 

The court of exchequer is inferior in rank to both 
the king’s bench and the common pleas. Its judges 
are termed barons. It consists of a chief baron and 
four associate barons. It was originally intended 
principally to order the revenues of the crown, and to 
recover debts due the king, but it has long possessed 
the character of an ordinary court of justice between 
subject and subject. In fact nearly all cases between 
plaintiff and defendant may be indiscriminately tried 
in each of the three courts. 

From the court of chancery, and from the courts 
at Westminster, an appeal lies to the House of Lords. 
The House of Lords k is thus the highest judicial tr» 
tmnal in Great Britain. 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. Ib9 

The lords, when holding a judicial session, request 
the attendance and advice of the judges of the supe¬ 
rior courts, and the decisions are commonly made in 
accordance with their advice and that of the members 
learned in the law. 


CHAPTEE XVIL^-^ 

N 

TREASON-CITIZENSHIP-ADMISSION OF NEW STATES-AMEND¬ 

MENTS. 

Art. 3, § 3. “ Treason against the United States 
shall consist only in levying war against them, or in 
adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and com¬ 
fort. No person shall be convicted of treason, unless 
on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt 
act, or on confession in open court.” 

Treason is regarded as the highest crime that can 
be committed against civil society. In past ages the 
term was a very indefinite one. Men have been con¬ 
victed and punished for treason for a great variety of 
acts. Tyrannical governments have often disposed of 
obnoxious persons, by finding them guilty of treason. 
This occurred so frequently even in England, that in 
the reign of Edward III. Parliament interfered by 
declaring and defining the different branches of trea¬ 
son. This clause of "the Constitution is taken from 
said act of parliament. It secures every one against 



THE SCIENCE OE GOVERNMENT. 


191 


the charge of treason unless he has made war against 
the United States, or assisted their enemies. 

The Constitution also secures to every one accused 
of treason a fair trial. No man can be convicted of 
treason on the testimony of one witness, however ex¬ 
plicit and clear his testimony. Nor can he be con¬ 
victed. on his own confession, unless it be made in 
open court. Confession artfully wrung from him, or 
false testimony respecting confession, cannot harm 
him. Thus careful were our fathers in regard to the 
crinu of treason, being led thereunto by the bloody 
reco; Is on the pages of history. 

Art. 3, § 3, 2. “ The Congress shall have power 
to declare the punishment of treason; but no at¬ 
tainder of treason shall work corruption of blood or 
forfeiture, except during the life of the person at¬ 
tainted.” 

“ The punishment of high treason by the common 
law, as stated by Mr. Justice Blackstone, is as fol¬ 
lows: 1. That the offender be drawn to the gallows, 
and not be carried or walk, though usually (by conni¬ 
vance at length ripened into law) a sledge or hurdle 
is allowed, to preserve the offender from the ex¬ 
treme torment of being dragged on the ground or 
pavement. 2. That he be hanged by the neck and 
cut down alive. 3. That his entrails be taken out 
and burned while he is yet alive. 4. That his head 
be cut off. 5. That his body be divided into foui 


192 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


parts. 6. That his head and quarters be at the king’s 
disposal.” * 

These refinements in cruelty were in former times 
literally and studiously executed. Our fathers placed 
the power of declaring the punishment of treason 
with Congress. Congress has made the punishment 
to be death by hanging. 

By the common law, corruption of blood and for¬ 
feiture of property followed conviction of treason. 
The person convicted could not inherit property from 
his ancestors nor transmit it to his heirs. If a man 
was convicted and executed for treason, and then his 
father should die, his children could not inherit their 
grandfather’s property, for they must claim through 
his father, whose blood being corrupted has lost its 
inheritable qualities. To prevent the innocent from 
thus suffering, the Constitution declares that convic¬ 
tion for treason shall not work corruption of blood or 
forfeiture, except during the life of the person at¬ 
tainted. 

Art. 4, § 1. “Full faith and credit shall be given in 
each State to the public acts, records, and judicial pro¬ 
ceedings of every other State, and the Congress may, 
by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such 
acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the 
effect thereof.” 

If a case had been tried and decided in a State, 
* Story. 


THE SCIENCE. OF GOVERNMENT. ^93 

and an attempt should be made to bring the same 
matter into court in another State, the party sought 
to be injured would procure the record of the for¬ 
mer trial, and that would put an end to the proceed¬ 
ing. 

Art 4, § 2, 1. “The citizens of each State shall be 
entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in 
the several States.” 

The design of the Constitution was to make one 
nation of the States. As all are citizens of the United 
States, they are, for the time being, citizens of that 
State in which they reside. They are, of course, sub¬ 
ject to the local regulations of said State. If one 
of those regulations be, that one must be a resi¬ 
dent for six months in order to vote, that regulation 
does not interfere with this provision of the Constitu¬ 
tion. 

Art. 4, § 2, 2. “ A person charged in any State 
with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee 
from justice, and be found in another State, shall, on 
demand of the executive authority of the State from 
which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the 
State having jurisdiction of the crime.” 

This tends to facilitate the execution of justice, 
and is rendered necessary by that part of the Constitu- 
tion which requires that the accused be tried in the 
State where the crime was committed. 

In regard to foreign nations, the surrender of 
9 


194 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


criminals is often made the subject of treaty stipula 
tions. 

Art. 4, § 2, 3. “No person held to service or labor 
in one State under the laws thereof escaping into 
another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation 
therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but 
shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom 
such service or labor may be due. 

This relates to fugitive slaves. It requires that 
fugitive slaves be restored to their masters. 

As slavery has ceased to exist in the United States, 
this clause is therefore a dead letter, and discussions 
growing out of it are at an end. 

Art. 4, § 3. “ New States may admitted by the 

Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be 
formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other 
State; nor any State be formed by the junction of two 
or more States or parts of States, without the consent 
of the legislatures of the States concerned, as well as 
of the Congress.” 

When a new State desires admission to the Union 
application is made to Congress. Congress may pre¬ 
scribe the terms on which the applicant may be re¬ 
ceived, provided said terms are not in conflict with 
any of the provisions of the Constitution. 

Art. 4, § 3, 2. “ The Congress shall have power to 
dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations 
respecting the territory or other property belonging tc 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


195 


ilie United States, and nothing in this Constitution 
shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the 
United States or of any particular State.” 

Under this provision, Congress has erected territo* 
ria A governments, which have exercised authority till 
they were superseded by State governments. 

The territorial governments consist of a governor 
appointed by the President and Senate, a legislature 
chosen by the people, and judges appointed by the 
President and Senate. These judges are not regarded 
as belonging to the national judiciary. Their term of 
office expires when the territory becomes a State, it 
not sooner removed. The people of the territory elect 
a delegate, who has a seat in the House of Representa¬ 
tives, and can take part in debates relating to the ter¬ 
ritory, but is not entitled to a vote. 

Art. 4, § 4. “ The United States shall guarantee to 
every State in this Union a republican form of govern¬ 
ment, and shall protect each of them against invasion, 
and on application of the legislature, or of the execu¬ 
tive (when the legislature cannot be convened), against 
domestic violence.” 

This secures to each State for its protection against 
foreign and domestic foes the power of the United 
States. 

Art. 5, § 1. “The Congress, whenever two-thirds 
of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose 
amendments to this Constitution, or, on the appliear 


196 


THE SCIENCE OF GO VEEN MEIN T. 


tion c i the legislatures of two-thirds of the severa* 
States, v.hall call a convention for proposing amend¬ 
ments, which in either case shall be valid to all intents 
and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when rati¬ 
fied by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several 
States, or by conventions in three-fourths thereof, as 
one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed 
by the Congress, provided that no amendment which 
may be made prior to the year one thousand eight 
hundred and eight, shall in any manner affect the first 
and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first 
article; and that no State, without its consent, shall 
be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.” 

The Constitul ion thus provides in two ways for its 
amendment. The first is the one that has hitherto 
been adopted. No amendment was to affect the 
clause relating to the prohibition of the slave trade, 
and the clause relating to a capitation tax. Time, and 
the course of events, have rendered those restrictions 
needless. That, forever securing to all the States 
equal suffrage in the Senate, remains. 

Art. 6, § 1. “ All debts contracted, and engage¬ 

ments entered into before the adoption of this Consti¬ 
tution, shall be as valid against the United States 
under this Constitution, as under the Confedera¬ 
tion.” 

This is simply affirming a principle of the law ot 
nations. 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


29/ 


Art. 6, § 2. “This Constitution, and the laws of 
the United States which shall be made in pursuance 
thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made, 
under the authority of the United States, shall be the 
supreme law of the land; and the judges in every 
State shall be bound thereby, any thing in the Consti¬ 
tution or laws of any State to the contrary notwith¬ 
standing.” 

If this does not express the supremacy of the Con¬ 
stitution to all State constitutions, laws, and ordi 
nances, language cannot be so framed as to do it. 

Art. 6, § 3. “ The senators and representatives be¬ 
fore mentioned, and the members of the several Stale 
legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, 
both of the United States and of the several States, 
shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this 
Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be re¬ 
quired as a qualification to any office or public trust 
under the United States.” 

The State officers are concerned in many ways in 
carrying into effect the provisions of the Constitution 
of the United States, hence it is proper that they be 
bound by oath to support it. Members of Congress, 
executive, or judicial officers, cannot labor to over¬ 
throw the Constitution and laws of the United State? 
without incurring the guilt of perjurv. 

Art. 7. “ The ratification of the Conventions oi 

nine States shall be sufficient for the establishment oi 


198 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


this Constitution between the States so ratifying the 
same.” 

It will be recollected that when the Constitution 
went into operation, eleven out of the original thir 
teen States had ratified the Constitution. 


CHAPTER XVIXI. 


AMENDMENTS. 

When the Constitution was laid before the people 
it was objected that it did not contain a hill of rights. 
“ A bill of rights is a written instrument, containing 
a public declaration of certain general rights of the 
people, which are held fundamental to their security 
and protection.” 

Tbe true answer to this objection is found in the 
fact that the sole object of the Constitution was to 
provide for and secure the rights of the people. But 
to meet this and other objections, the first Congress 
under the Constitution proposed certain amendments, 
which, being ratified by the legislatures of three- 
fourths of the States, became a part of the Constitu¬ 
tion. These amendments are as follows : 

Art. 1. “ Congress shall make no law respecting 
an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free 
exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech 
or of the press ; or the right of the people peaceably to 


200 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


assemble, and to petition the government for a redress 
of grievances.” 

The evils resulting from a connection of the State 
with the Church, are well known. The experience of 
some of the colonies, where preference had been given 
to particular denominations, confirmed the aversion of 
the people to the union of Church and State. Hence 
they desired to have in the Constitution a provision 
guaranteeing religious freedom. 

Freedom of speech and of the press is essential to 
liberty. It was well to place the matter beyond pos¬ 
sibility of doubt, by expressly forbidding Congress to 
encroach on freedom of speech or of the press. 

Freedom of speech and of the press may degener¬ 
ate into licentiousness. This is partially checked 
by laws forbidding slander. Great evils may result 
from the licentiousness of the press, but greater 'evils 
would follow the power of the government to interfere 
with its freedom. 

There are extravagant and unsound notions current 
in regard to the freedom of the press. Some seem to 
think that it secures impunity in doing every kind of 
wrong that can be perpetrated by means of the press. 
Such freedom, or license, for it cannot properly be 
called freedom, would be incompatible Tvith the 
existence of a free government. An eminent jurist 
has remarked that freedom of the press consists in 
laying no previous restraints upon publications' 


THE SCIENCE OP GOVERNMENT. 


201 


not in freedom from censure for criminal matter when 
published. “ Every freeman has an undoubted right 
to lay what sentiments he pleases before the public; 
to forbid this is to destroy the freedom of the press. 
But if he publishes what is improper, mischievous, or 
illegal, he must take the consequences of his own 
temerity.” “To censure the licentiousness is to 
maintain the liberty of the press.” Chancellor Kent 
remarks: “It has become a constitutional principle in 
this country that every citizen may freely speak, write, 
and publish his sentiments on all subjects, being re¬ 
sponsible for the abuse of that right; and that no law 
can rightfully be passed to restrain or abridge the 
freedom of the press.” 

The right of petition is expressly provided for, 
though in a popular government it would seem that 
such a provision could scarcely be necessary. The 
right to petition government implies the right to have 
the petitions received. The refusal of Congress to 
receive petitions respectfully worded and properly 
presented would be a violation of this clause in the 
Constitution. 

Art. 2. “ A well-regulated militia being necessary 
to the security of a free State, the right of the people 
to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” 

A well-regulated militia supersedes the necessity 
of a standing army. The right to keep and bear arms 
gives the people power to resist effectually, if need be, 
. 9 * 


202 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


the encroachments of usurpation and arbitrary power. 
To the fact that nearly all the American people are 
iccustomed to the use of arms, is it in a great measure 
ywing that large armies can he organized and dis- 
siplined in a very short time. 

Art. 3. “No soldier shall, in time of peace, be 
quartered in any house, without the consent of the 
awner; nor in time of war, but in a manner to be pre¬ 
scribed by law.” 

This guards against an evil practically unknown in 
this country, but well known in former times in Great 
Britain and other countries. Many of the most 
valuable provisions of our Constitution are owing to 
the example furnished by Great Britain. 

Art. 4. “The right of the people to be secure in 
their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against un¬ 
reasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated; 
and no warrants shall isstie, but upon probable cause, 
supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly 
describing the place to be searched, and the person or 
things to be seized.” 

This is necessary to that complete personal security 
which every government should furnish to its subjects. 
It was suggested by the practice for a long time com¬ 
mon in England, of issuing general warrants to arrest 
all persons (without gaming them) engaged or suspect¬ 
ed to be engaged in certain transactions. This ren 
dered every man liable to arrest. 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


203 


Art. 5. “No person shall he held to answer for a 
c tpital or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a present¬ 
ment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases 
arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, 
when in actual service in time of war or public danger; 
nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to 
be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be 
compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against 
himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property 
without due process of law; nor shall private property 
be taken for public use without just compensation.” 

A grand jury is a body of men selected in a man¬ 
ner prescribed by law, and sworn to make inquiry and 
present all offences against the government in the 
district for which they were selected. “ The grand 
jury may consist of any number not less than twelve 
nor more than twenty-three; and twelve at least must 
concur in every accusation. They sit in secret and 
examine the evidence laid before them by themselves.” 
An accusation is laid before them. If they believe it 
to be true, they write on the back of it, “ A true bill.” 
The party thus accused stands indicted, and may then 
be tried by a court of justice. 

“The indictment must charge the time, and place, 
and nature, and circumstances of the offence with 
clearness and certainty, so that the party may have 
full notice of the charge, and be able to make his de¬ 
fence with all reasonable knowledge and ability.” 


204 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


The exceptions to this provision relate to the proper 
field for the exercise of martial law. 

No person can be twice tried for an offence, pro¬ 
vided a judgment was rendered in the case. This is 
to prevent one from being arrested and tried a second 
time, when perhaps the witnesses which proved his 
innocence at the former trial are absent or deceased. 
By this provision it is possible that a guilty man may 
escape punishment, but that is far better than that an 
innocent man should suffer wrong. 

No man can be compelled to bear witness against 
himself. It may seem strange that such a prohibition 
should be deemed necessary. But there have been ? 
in former times, in some countries, numerous cases in 
which men were tortured to compel them to bear 
witness against themselves, or to confess themselves 
guilty. 

Art. 6. “ In all criminal prosecutions, the accused 
shall enjoy the right to a speedy public trial by an 
impartial jury of the State and district wherein the 
crime shall have been committed, which district shall 
have been preA r iously ascertained by law; and to 
be informed of the nature and cause of the accusa¬ 
tion ; to be confronted with the witnesses against him ; 
to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in 
his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for hig 
defence.” 

These provisions furnish greater security for pei 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 2OB 

sona. liberty, than is furnished by the Constitution 
and laws of any other country, England not excepted. 

Art. 7. “ In suits at common law, where the value 
in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right 
of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried 
by a jury shall be otherwise reexamined in any court 
of the United States, than according to the rules of 
the common law.” 

This amendment was designed to define and limit 
the interpretation of that clause in the Constitution 
which declares that “ the Supreme Court shall have 
appellate jurisdiction both as to law and fact” 

Art. 8. “ Excessive bail shall not be required, nor 
excessive fines be imposed, nor cruel and unusual pun¬ 
ishment inflicted.” 

The things here forbidden have often taken place 
in other countries, and human nature is the same in 
all ages. 

Art. 9. “ The enumeration in the Constitution of 
certain rights shall not be construed to deny or dis¬ 
parage others retained by the people.” 

Art. 10. “The powers not delegated to the United 
States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the 
States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the 
«. people.” 

It will be observed that the terra “ expressly ” does 
not precede the term delegated. The second of the 
Articles of Confederation declared that each State re 


206 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


tained every power and right not “ expressly dele* 
gated to the United States.” The consequence was 
that Congress w r as often obliged to usurp powers that 
it did not possess. 

When this amendment was before Congress it was 
proposed to insert the word “ expressly ” before dele¬ 
gated, but the proposition was rejected. It was seen 
that it was not possible to confine a government to the 
exercise of express powers. The conferring of a power 
to do a thing implies the power to use the necessary 
means. The government must exercise implied pow¬ 
ers, unless the Constitution should descend to the 
most minute details. 

The design of the amendment was not to abridge 
any of the powers granted under the Constitution, but 
to exclude any interpretation by which other pow r ers 
should be assumed. 

Art. 11, relating to the suability of a State by citi¬ 
zens of another State, and Art. 12, relating to the mode 
of choosing the President and Vice-President, have 
already been considered. 

Art. 13,1. “Neither slavery nor involuntary servi¬ 
tude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the 
party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist with’ 
in the United States, or any place subject to their ju* 
risdiction. 

2. “ Congress shall have power to enforce this arti 
cle by appropriate legislation.” 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


207 


This amendment was proposed in the Senate Feb. 
1 t864. It passed the Senate April 8,1864, by a vote 
ol 36 to 6. It passed the House of Representatives 
Jan. 31,1865, by a vote of 119 to 56. 

On Dec. 18, 1865, William II. Seward, Secretary 
of State, officially announced to the country that the 
amendment had been ratified by the legislatures of 
three-fourths of the States, and was consequently a 
part cf the “ supreme law of the land.” 


CHAPTER XIX. 


THE CONSTITUTIONS OF THE STATES. 

When the Revolution took place, the royal govern* 
ors, judges, and other officers who remained loyal to 
the king, left the country. The remaining officers, 
and the colonial assemblies, exercised the powers of 
government. New Jersey formed and adopted a con¬ 
stitution July 2, 1776 —two days before the Declara¬ 
tion of Independence. It contained a provision by 
which it became null and void in case a reconciliation 
with the mother country took place. 

After the Declaration of Independence, all the 
States formed and adopted constitutions, except Con¬ 
necticut and Rhode Island. Those States continued 
to use their charters—Connecticut till 1818, and 
Rhode Island till 1842. Of course, every thing in the 
charters relating to the king was regarded as null and 
void. 

The constitution of Virginia was adopted in 1776, 
and amended in 1830; of Maryland, in 1776, and 


TIIE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


209 


amended in 1795, 1799, and 1812; of North Carolina, 
in 1776, amended in 1835; of Massachusetts, in 1780, 
amended in 1820; of Delaware, in 1776, amended in 
1792; of New York, in 1777, amended 1801, 1821,1846 ; 
of Pennsylvania, in 1776, amended in 1790 and 1836; 
of New Hampshire, in 1777, amended in 1784 and 1792; 
of Georgia, in 1777, amended in 1785 and 1798 ; of 
• Connecticut, in 1818 ; of Rhode Island, in 1842. 

The first new State formed after the adoption 
of the Federal Constitution was Vermont. It was 
formed of territory belonging to New York. It was 
admitted to the Union in 1791. Its present constitu¬ 
tion was adopted in 1793. 

Kentucky formed a constitution in 1790, and was 
admitted to the Union in 1792. A second constitu¬ 
tion was formed in 1799, and a third in 1849-’50. 

The constitution of Tennessee was adopted Feb¬ 
ruary, 1796, admitted June, 1796. This State was 
formed from territory ceded to the United States by 
North Carolina. 

The constitution of Ohio was formed in November, 

1802, and she was admitted to the Union February, 

1803. Ohio was formed from the eastern division of 
the Northwest Territory. This territory was ceded 
the Congress of the United States in 1784 by Virginia. 
By an ordinance passed by Congress in 1787, slavery 
was forever prohibited in that territory and the States 


210 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


to be formed from it. The ordinance provided that 
not less than three nor more than five States should bo 
formed out of the territory. The prosperous States of 
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, were 
formed from that territory. The ordinance which 
forever secured them to freedom, was advocated by 
some of the most distinguished sons of Virginia, by 
which State, as we have seen, that vast territory was 
ceded to the United States. 

The constitution of Louisiana was formed January, 
1812, and she was admitted to the Union in April, 
1812. 

This State formed part of the territory purchased 
from France by President Jefferson, for $15,000,000. 
Jefferson acknowledged that the Constitution did not 
authorize the purchase of foreign territory, and intend¬ 
ed to appeal to the people to make an amendment to 
the Constitution, sanctioning the purchase. There was 
such a general approval of the act, that no such amend¬ 
ment was proposed. It was plainly of the utmost 
consequence, that the mouth of the Mississippi, the 
outlet of the Western States, should not be under tho 
control of a foreign power. John Quincy Adams 
spoke of the purchase as a “ splendid violation of the 
Constitution.” 

The purchased territory was divided by Congress 
into the Territory Of Orleans and the District of 
Louisiana. The territory of Orleans formed a const* 


THE SCIENCE OP GOVERNMENT. 


211 


tution, and took the name of Louisiana. The District 
of Louisiana was subsequently called Missouri. 

Indiana adopted a constitution in June, 1816, and 
was admitted to the Union in December 1816. This 
State was formed out of the Northwest territory. 

Mississippi adopted a constitution in August, 1817, 
and was admitted to the Union in December, 1817. 
This State was formed out of territory ceded to the 
United States by South Carolina and Georgia. It con¬ 
stituted the western part of the ceded territory. The 
eastern part was then called the Territory of Alabama. 

Illinois adopted a constitution in August, 1818, and 
was admitted to the Union in December, 1818. It was 
formed out of the Northwest territory. 

Alabama adopted a constitution in August, 1819, 
and was admitted to the Union in December, 1819. 

Maine adopted a constitution in October, 1819, and 
was admitted to the Union in March, 1820. It had 
previously formed a part of Massachusetts, and was 
known as the District of Maine. 

Missouri adopted a constitution in July, 1820, and 
was admitted to the Union in March, 1821. 

With the application of this State for admission to 
the Union, began the great struggle to prevent the 
extension of slavery into the new States. The con¬ 
stitution of Missouri sanctioned slavery. A large 
majority of the members of Congress from the free 
States were opposed to admitting her with that con 


212 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


stitution. The struggle that took place threatened to 
rend the Union. It was finally settled by a com¬ 
promise, brought about mainly by the influence of 
Henry Clay. By this compromise, the State was 
admitted as a slaveholding State; but it was stipulated 
that slavery should never be established in any States 
formed in future from lands lying north of latitude 
36° 30'. This was known as the Missouri Compromise; 
it was repealed in 1854. 

The constitution of Arkansas was adopted in 
January, 1836, and she was admitted to the Union in 
June, 1836. This State was formed out of the territory 
purchased from France. 

Michigan adopted a constitution in 1836, and was 
admitted to the Union in January, 1837. 

Florida adopted a constitution in February, 1839, 
and was admitted to the Union in March, 1845. This 
State was formed out of territory ceded by Spain to 
the United States in 1819. 

Iowa adopted a constitution in December, 1844, 
and was admitted to the Union in March, 1845. 

Texas adopted a constitution in July, 1845, and 
was admitted to the Union in December, 1845. Texas 
was an independent repubfic formed out of Mexican 
territory by a successful rebellion. - 

Wisconsin adopted a constitution in December, 
1846, and was admitted to the Union in March, 1847. 

California adopted a constitution in November 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT 


213 


1840, and was admitted to the Union in September, 
1850. This State was formed out of part of the terri* 
rory ceded to the United States by Mexico in 1848. 

Minnesota adopted a constitution in November, 
1857, and was admitted to the Union in May, 1858. 

Oregon adopted a constitution in November, 1857, 
and was admitted to the Union in May, 1858. 

Kansas adopted a constitution in October, 1858, 
and was admitted to the Union in January, 1861. 

West Virginia adopted a constitution in April, 
1862. In December of the same year Congress passed 
an act admitting the State to the Union on certain 
conditions. Those conditions having been complied 
with, she was admitted in Juno, 1863. 

Nevada adopted a constitution in 1864, and was 
admitted to the Union in October of the same year. 

All the States that have been added to the original 
thirteen had territorial governments previous to their 
admission except Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee, and 
Maine. Texas w r as, as has been stated, an independent 
rejmblic. 

The Constitutions of all the States are similar to 
the Constitution of the United States, and, of course 
similar to one another. In all, the powers are divided 
into the legislative, the judicial, and the executive. 
The legislative power is vested in two houses, and the 
mode of making laws the same as that pursued by the 
Congress of the United States. 

O 


214 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


The executive power is vested in a governor, whos'-s 
powers are similar to those possessed by the President 
of the United States. He is charged with the execu* 
ion of the laws, and, in most of the States, has a quad* 
fied veto on the acts of the legislature, and power to 
pardon offences against the laws. 

Each State has a judicial system analogous to that 
of the United States, consisting of a supreme court or 
court of appeals, and inferior courts. 

In nearly all the States, the legislature meets an¬ 
nually. The members of the lower house are gener¬ 
ally chosen for one jear, and those of the upper house 
for a longer period. 

In the New England States, the governors are 
chosen for one year. In some of the States he is 
chosen for two years, and in some for four years. 

The judges are in some States appointed by the 
governor and senate, in others they are elected by the 
legislature, and in others they are elected by the 
people. There has been, in the mode of appointment 
and in the tenure of office, a departure from the exam¬ 
ple of the Constitution of the United States. The 
judges are, in most cases, elected for a term of years. 
In all cases they can be removed from office by im¬ 
peachment, and in some cases by the governor on the 
address of the legislature. 

In some States there are chancery courts, and in 
others the powers of chancery are vested in the corn* 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


215 


mon law courts. In some States there are separate 
courts for the trial of criminal cases. In incorporated 
towns and cities there are usually municipal courts foi 
the trial of causes within the incorporated limits. 

The State courts have jurisdiction in all matters 
which the United States courts have not exclusive 
jurisdiction. It extends over all debts, contracts, and 
crimes, except those which are committed against the 
laws of the United States. In some matters the Xa- 
tional and State courts have concurrent jurisdiction. 

The smaller matters of litigation come before a 
class of magistrates, termed justices of the peace. 
This office is peculiar to the State government. There 
are generally several justices in each township. In 
some States they are elected by the people, and in 
others appointed by higher officers. Though their 
jurisdiction is limited, they transact the largest por¬ 
tion of the judicial business of the country. 

The State constitutions differ in regard to the 
length of residence required in order to be a voter in 
the State. Maine requires a residence of three months, 
Kentucky of two years. 

The State constitutions, while constructed on tht 
game general principles as the Constitution of the 
United States, are subordinate to it. The State con¬ 
stitution defines the powers of the State government. 
The main duty of the State government is to mako 
and execute laws required by the peculiar and luca] 


216 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


interests of each State. It would be almost impossi¬ 
ble for Congress to make all the laws which are neces¬ 
sary for the well-being of all the people scattered 
throughout the vast territory of the United States. If 
we examine the statutes of any State, we shall find that 
a large number of them relate to local interests in dif¬ 
ferent parts of the State. One law relates to a town¬ 
ship, another to a county. Consider how many town¬ 
ships and counties diere are in the United States, and 
you will see that it would be impossible for Congress 
to attend to those numerous interests. It is therefore 
a wise arrangement by which we have State govern¬ 
ments to make laws for the States, and a National 
Government to make laws for the nation. 

The State governments have certain duties to per¬ 
form in relation to the National government. They 
make law's providing for and regulating the election 
of representatives and senators in Congress, and for 
the choice of presidential electors. They also deter¬ 
mine the qualifications of the electors for representa¬ 
tives in Congress. 

All the States are divided into counties, except 
South Carolina, which is divided into districts; and 
Louisiana, which is divided into parishes. In each 
county, there is a county seat where courts are held, 
and an office kept for recording deeds and other legal 
documents. 

Li some of the States, the officers of the county 


THE SCIENCE 'jF GOVERNMENT. 


217 


possess power to legislate in some matters pertaining 
to the county. In the State of New York, the hoard 
of supervisors, elected by the towns, possess certain 
legislative powers. 

The New England States, New York, and some 
other States, are divided into townships, having cer¬ 
tain political powers. The inhabitants meet annually 
and elect town officers, lay taxes, and make regula¬ 
tions in regard to local matters. 

The legislatures of the States incorporate boroughs 
and cities. To incorporate a borough or city, is to 
give it a charter conferring certain specified powers. 
All our large cities are thus incorporated, and have a 
city government in addition to that of the county and 
State. Thus the city of New York has, for some ob¬ 
jects, a government of its own—forms, as it were, a 
State within a State. 

Jdy the charter of New York, certain legislative 
powers are vested in a board of aldermen and a board 
of councilman, which together constitute the common 
council. The board of aldermen consists of seventeen 
members, who are chosen by the people for two years, 
and the board of councilmen consists of twenty-four 
members chosen for one year. 

The common council have power to make ordi¬ 
nances or laws for the well-being of the city, to make 
appropriations for every branch and object of cit^ 


218 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


expenditure. Taxes are laid by the Board of Super* 
visors. 

Every legislative act must receive the votes of a 
majority in both boards, when it must be presented 
to the mayor for his approval. If he give it his sig- 
nature, it becomes a law. If he veto it, it may be¬ 
come a law by receiving the votes of two-thirds of 
both boards. 

The members of the common council receive as 
compensation for their services $2,000 a year. 

The executive power of the corporation is vested 
in the mayor, and in the executive departments. The 
mayor is elected by the people for two years. The 
heads of the executive departments, excepting the 
Croton Aqueduct board, the counsel to the corporation, 
and the comptroller, are appointed by the mayor, with 
the advice and consent of the board of aldermen, for 
four years. They may be removed from office by the 
governor of the State for certain causes, and in a man¬ 
ner set forth by an act of the legislature. 

The executive departments are— 

1. The department of finance, of which the comp¬ 
troller is the chief officer. 2. The street department, 
of which the street commissioner is the chief officer. 
3. The law department, of which the counsel to the 
corporation is the chief officer. 4. The Croton Aque¬ 
duct, of which the Croton Aqueduct board, consisting 
of the president, engineer, and assistant commissioner, 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


219 


nre the chief officers. 5. The almshouse department, 
of which the governors of the almshouse are the chief 
officers. 

The city chamberlain is appointed by the mayor, 
with the consent of the board of aldermen, lie re¬ 
ceives all moneys paid into the treasury of the city, 
and disburses it on warrants drawn by the comptroller, 
and countersigned by the mayor and clerk of the 
common council. 

The charter makes no provision for a judiciary 
distinct from that of the county and the State. The 
judges who hold courts in the city are elected by the 
people in accordance with the laws of the State. 

All the large cities of the Union have charter 
governments similar to that of New York. 


CHAPTER XX. 


INTERNATIONAL LAW, 

A nation is composed of individuals. Each in¬ 
dividual is a moral being. In liis conduct as a citizen 
he is bound by the law of rectitude. Hence the nation 
is bound by the law of rectitude. 

The nations of the earth must have intercourse with 
each other. That intercourse must be regulated by 
certain rules. The rules that regulate the intercourse 
of nations constitute international law. That law 
should consist of rules prescribed by justice. It does 
consist of the rules that have received the assent of all 
the nations of Christendom. 

International law is not the result of legisla¬ 
tive enactment. There is no international legislature 
to make laws, no international judiciary to interpret 
them, and no international executive to enforce them. 
The usages with respect to national intercourse, recog¬ 
nized by all Christian nations, form the body of what 
is termed international law. These laws have no 


TIIE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


221 


specific penalties attached to their violation. They 
are placed under the protection of public opinion. 
The remedy in case of violation is war. 

The following are some of the recognized principles 
or rules of international law: 

“Nations are equal in respect to each other, and 
entitled to claim equal consideration for their rights, 
whatever may be their relative dimensions or strength, 
or however greatly they may differ in government, 
religion, or manners.” Hence no nation has a right to 
interfere in the domestic concerns of any other nation. 
Each nation may manage its affairs as it pleases, pro¬ 
vided it does not infringe on the rights of other 

o o 

nations. It may change its government for a better 
one or for a worse one, as it pleases. It may cease to 
have commercial intercourse with one nation or with 
all nations, and it may grant to one nation greater 
privileges than it grants to other nations. 

If it pursues a course adapted to injure a nation, 
that nation may take measures to prevent the threat¬ 
ened injury. If the government of a country should 
outrage humanity in the treatment of its subjects, 
then intervention in behalf of humanity would be law¬ 
ful. On this principle, Great Britain, France, and 
Russia interfered in favor of the Greeks against the 
Turks in 1827, and brought to a close a cruel war, and 
secured the independence of Greece. 

One nation is not to judge as to the legitimacy of 


222 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


the government of another nation. It is bound to 
regard the existing government, the government der 
facto , no matter by what means it came into power, 
as the lawful government. 

Changes that may take place in the government 
of a nation do not affect its relations to other 
nations. Treaties formed with a nation under a 
kingly government remain in force though that king¬ 
ly government be changed for a democracy. The 
United States borrowed money from the royal govern¬ 
ment of France. It paid it to the revolutionary 
government. The debt was due, not to the king or to 
the Directory, but to the French nation. 

A nation has exclusive jurisdiction over all its 
territory, including the rivers and lakes lying wholly 
within it, and the adjoining sea to the extent of a 
marine league from the shore. It has a right to try 
and punish according to its own laws crimes com¬ 
mitted on its territory, whoever may be the per¬ 
petrator. 

The open sea is the common property of all nations. 
It is the common highway of nations. Each nation 
has exclusive jurisdiction over its vessels on the high 
seas. 

When a river separates two countries, the dividing 
due runs along the centre of the channel. Both 
nations have a right "to use its waters for purposes of 
navigation. 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


228 


When a navigable river rises in one country and 
flows through another in its passage to the sea, the 
inhabitants of the upper country have a right to the 
navigation of the river to the sea, under such regula¬ 
tions as may be necessary to the safety of the lower 
country. 

Foreigners resident in a country are subject to its 
laws. They are entitled to protection, and if, while 
permitted to remain, they are oppressed, their native 
country would have to seek redress in their behalf. 
They can claim protection and justice, though they 
cannot claim all the privileges of citizens. 

The following persons are not subject to the laws 
in the land of their temporary sojourn: 

1. Sovereigns and their attendants travelling 
abroad. 2. Ambassadors and the members of their 
suite and family. 

Ambassadors possess immunity from the jurisdic¬ 
tion of the country in which they reside, both criminal 
and civil. They are representatives of the country 
from which they are sent, and are subject to its knvs 
only. Complete independence could not be pos¬ 
sessed, if they were not exempted from all responsi¬ 
bility to the laws of the country to which they are 
sent, and complete independence is necessary to a 
faithful discharge of their duty. If an ambassadoi 
should abuse his privileges and commit crimes, the 
government to which he is accredited may demand 


224 


TIIE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


bis recall, or if the case is urgent, may require him to 
depart within a reasonable time. 

3. Officers and crews of public armed ships m 
foreign ports, while on board their ships. If they go 
on shore and violate the laws, they may be arrested 
by the authorities and punished. The crews of mer¬ 
chant vessels have no such exemption. 

A government may, if it sees fit, refuse to receive 
an ambassador; the refusal would not be a just cause 
for war. 

Treaties are made by ambassadors acting under 
instructions from their government. After the treaty 
has been signed by the ambassador, it must be ratified 
by the sovereign or government which he represents. 
The sovereign or government may refuse to ratify the 
treaty, though the ambassador in making it may have 
adhered strictly to his instructions. 

When a treaty has been violated by one of the 
parties, the other party is released from obligation to 
observe it. 

If a nation has been treated unjustly by another 
nation, and redress is refused, resort may be had to war. 
“War,” says Chancellor Kent, “is not to be resorted 
to without absolute necessity, nor unless peace would 
be more dangerous and more miserable than war 
itself. An injury to an individual member of a State 
is a just cause of war* if redress be refused; but a na¬ 
tion is not bound to go to war on so rHo-W <v 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVEKNMENT. 223 

tion, for it may of itself grant indemnity to the 
injured party, and if this cannot be done, yet the good 
of the whole is to be preferred to the welfare of 3 
part. Every milder method of redress is to be triec 
before the nation makes an appeal to arms.” 

A formal declaration of war, and notice thereof o 
the enemy before the commencement of hostility , is 
not necessary. After a declaration within its own 
territory, and to its own subjects, a nation may at 
once commence hostilities. 

A state of war renders all com menial intercourse 
between the citizens of the nations «•« war, unlawful. 
All trading w r ith the enemy is a crime, unless the 
government has granted the parties a special li¬ 
cense for so doing. 

In case of an invasion, private persons making no 
resistance are not to be molested, and private prop¬ 
erty is not be confiscated. 

The government which declares w r ar can neither 
detain those subjects of the enemy who are in its do¬ 
minions at the time of the declaration of -war, nor 
their effects. They can remain during good behav- 
or, and retain their property, unless formal notice 
with adequate time, is given them to withdraw their 
persons and property. They must not, however, carry 
on any trade with the hostile country. Permission 
thus to remain is often made the subject of treaty 
stipulation. 


10 * 


226 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


The Supreme Court of the United States has de¬ 
cided that an enemy’s property found in the country 
when war takes place, is liable to confiscation, but 
Shat a legislative act is necessary before such prop¬ 
erty can be judicially condemned. No such act has 
ever been passed by the Congress of the United 
States. 

Debts due to the subjects of an enemy, and money 
in the public funds, are by modern usage exempted 
from confiscation. The decision of the Supreme Court 
places them on the same ground as other property. It 
regards them as liable to confiscation by a legislative 
act. 

If a person goes into a foreign country and en¬ 
gages in trade there, international law regards him as 
a merchant of that country. Hence, in time of war, 
he is subject to the same commercial rules wfith respect 
to the enemy, to which native born citizens are sub¬ 
ject. 

An enemy’s property at sea is liable to capture and 
confiscation. It may be captured by the national 
ships of war, or by private vessels commissioned by 
the government. 

Property sailing under the flag and pass of an 
enemy, though it be the property of a neutral, is liable 
to be confiscated. 

Property which belongs to one of the belligerents 
at the commencement of a voyage, cannot be trans- 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


22 


ferred to a neutral during the voyage, so as to protect 
it from capture. “ During peace a transfer in transitu 
may be made; but when war is existing or impending, 
the belligerent rule applies, and the ownership of the 
property is deemed to continue as it was at the time 
of the shipment, until actual delivery.” 

Privateering, though authorized by international 
law, is liable to great abuse. In a treaty made be¬ 
tween the United States and Prussia in 1785, it Avas 
stipulated that privateering should be abolished be¬ 
tween the tAVO countries. This treaty expired in 1799, 
when the article in regard to privateering Avas not re¬ 
newed. In 1856, a treaty was formed between France, 
Great Britain, Sardinia, and Turkey, on the one hand, 
and Russia on the other, Austria and Prussia being 
concurrent parties. These powers united in a declara¬ 
tion that privateering is, and remains abolished.” 
Other States Avere invited to adopt the principles of 
this declaration. The government of the United 
States, through lion. William L. Marcy, then Secretary 
of State, answered that it would agree to an arrange¬ 
ment by which private property at sea should be put 
on the same footing as private property on land—that 
is, that private property at sea, unless contraband of 
war, should be exempted from seizure by public armed 
vessels of the enemy. “ With this,” said Mr. Marcy, 
“ we will consent to the placing of privateering under 
the ban of the laAV of nations.” 


228 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


All captured property must be brought into port 
and condemned by a prize court sitting in the country 
of the captor, or of an ally, before it can be appropri¬ 
ated by the captor. 

If property taken by an enemy is recaptured, it 
does not become the property of the recaptor, but is, 
on certain conditions, restored to the original owner. 

When two or more nations are engaged in war, 
other nations are bound to maintain an impartial 
neutrality. The neutral is not to decide which party 
is in the wrong, and must furnish no aid to one party 
which it is not equally ready to furnish to the other. 
Antecedent engagements with one of the parties may 
be fulfilled, provided those engagements do not re¬ 
quire the neutral nation to become a party to the 
war. 

Neutral nations may cany on their ordinary com¬ 
merce unmolested, with the exception that they must 
not deal in articles contraband of war. A neutral 
ship may carry goods belonging to the enemy. The 
ship may be interrupted in her voyage, and the hostile 
property seized. In such cases, neither the ship nor 
the neutral property on board are subject to confisca¬ 
tion. 

Neutral property found in the vessels of enemies 
is not subject to confiscation. The same is true of the 
property of belligerents when within neutral juris* 
diction. 


THE SCIENCE OF GO'Y ERNMENT. 


229 


Neutrals are prohibited from carrying articles corn 
traband of war. All warlike stores and other articles 
directly auxiliary to warlike purposes are contraband 
of war. Provisions are not generally contraband, but 
may become so “ on account of the particular situa- 
ion of the war, or on account of the destination.” 

Neutrals are prohibited from trading with ports 
that are under blockade; an attempt to violate the 
blockade subjects the vessel and cargo to confiscation. 

The blockade must be an actual, not a mere paper 
blockade, that is, a blockade by proclamation and not 
supported by adequate force. A competent force 
must be stationed near or at the entrance of the 
port. 

Neutrals must have due notice of the existence of 
the blockade. The fact of sailing for a blockaded 
port is innocent, unless it be accompanied with knowl¬ 
edge of the blockade. If, while on her course, the 
vessel is informed of the blockade, an attempt to enter 
it renders her liable to confiscation. Sailing for a 
blockaded port, knowing it to be blockaded, in itself 
constitutes a breach of the blockade. 

Neutral vessels in the port at the time the blockade 
is declared are allowed to depart with goods pre¬ 
viously purchased. 

A vessel having violated the blockade is liable to 
capture till the return voyage is at an end. She can¬ 
not be captured during a second voyage for an offence 


230 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


committed during the first. If a vessel is captured at 
sea, and it subsequently appears that the blockade <va? 
raised previously to her capture, she is to be dis¬ 
charged. 

Neutrals are prohibited from carrying hostile de¬ 
spatches. The penalty for carrying hostile despatches 
is the confiscation of the ship and also of the cargo, 
provided the cargo be the property of the proprietor 
of the ship, or provided the owners of the cargo knew 
and approved of the act of the captain in carrying the 
despatches. 

In time of war, public armed vessels of the bellig¬ 
erents may visit and search the vessels of neutrals, in 
order to determine whether property or despatches of 
the enemy or contraband goods are on board. This is 
exclusively a war right, and does not exist in times of 
peace. The right of search is confined to merchant 
vessels, and does not extend to public ships of war. 

The right of search exists also with reference to 
the revenue laws of a country. A vessel of a friendly 
State, within waters under the jurisdiction of a nation, 
may be boarded and searched on suspicion of violating 
the revenue laws. If the vessel attempts to escape, 
she may be chased into the high seas, and, if overtaken, 
searched. 

Public vessels may exercise the right of search on 
suspicion of piracy, except in the waters of another 
State. 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT, 231 

A truce or armistice is a temporary suspension of 
the operations of war. “A general truce can be 
made only by the sovereign power, or its agents spe¬ 
cially employed for this purpose. A special or par 
tial truce may be concluded according to the usage of 
nations by a military officer, even by a subordinate one 
within his district.” * During the truce “ nothing can 
be done to the prejudice of either party by the other 
which could have been prevented in war.” 

A treaty is a contract between two or more na¬ 
tions. Each nation determines for itself in whose 
hands the treaty-making power shall be placed. 
Treaties in order to be binding must be signed by 
those negotiating them, and ratified according to the 
requirements of the respective governments of the 
nations entering into treaty. “ A treaty made by a 
minister abroad, when ratified by his sovereign, relates 
back to the time of signing. If one party violates 
the stipulations of a treaty, the other is absolved from 
obligation to observe it. 

“ A treaty of peace leaves every thing in the state 
in which it finds it, if there be no express stipulation 
on the subject. If nothing be said in the treaty of 
peace about the conquered country or places, they 
remain with the possessor, and his title cannot after¬ 
wards be called in question.” f 

Piracy is forbidden by the law of nations. Piracy 


W oolsey. 


f Kent 


232 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


is an offence against all nations, and is punishable by 
all. The African slave trade is declared to be piracy 
by the statute laws of England and the United States. 
As all the nations of Christendom have not united in 
declaring it piracy, it is not so regarded by the law of 
nations. 

International law is recognized in the legislation 
of nations. Each nation has laws rendering its viola¬ 
tion penal. According to Blackstone, it is in England 
held to be a part of the law of the land. The United 
States, by acts of Congress and by judicial decisions^ 
have endeavored to maintain its obligations,, 


CHAPTER XXL 


DIFFERENT KINDS OF LAW. 

Divine .aw is the will of God. His will is obliga¬ 
tory on men as moral beings in whatever way it may 
be made known. It is made known to us by the ex¬ 
ercise of our moral faculties and by revelation. This 
law is also termed the moral law, the law of rectitude, 
and the law of nature. All other kinds of law should 
be conformed to it. No law should ever enjoin or 
permit that which is not in accordance with the law 
of God—that which is not right. 

Constitutional Law is, as we have seen, a system of 
fundamental rules for the government of a nation, de¬ 
termining the form of the government and the extent 
ot its powers. 

International Law, called also the law of nations, 
is, as ha* been stated and illustrated in a former 
chapter, a system of rules assented to by all the 
nations of Christendom for the regulation of their in¬ 
tercourse in peace and in war. 


234 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


Municipal Law is a rule of civil conduct prescribed 
by the supreme power in a State. “ Municipal law is 
composed of written and unwritten, or of statute and 
common law.” 

Statute Law is “the express written will of the 
legislature, rendered authentic by certain prescribed 
forms and ceremonies.” 

“ The Common Law,” says Burrill, is “ that branch 
of the law of England which does not owe its origin 
to parliamentary enactment—being a collection of 
customs, rules, and maxims, which have acquired the 
force of law by immemorial usage recognized and de¬ 
clared by judicial decisions.” 

“ A great proportion of the rules and maxims 
which constitute the immense code of the common 
law,” says Kent, “ grew into use by gradual adoption, 
and received from time to time the sanction of the 
courts of justice without any legislative act or inter¬ 
ference. It was the application of the dictates of 
natural justice and of cultivated reason to particular 
cases.” In the just language of Sir Matthew Hale, the 
common law of England is “ not the product of the 
wisdom of some one man or society of men in any one 
age, but of the wisdom, counsel, experience, and ob¬ 
servation of many ages of wise and observing men.” 
“But though the great body of the common law con¬ 
sists of a collection of principles to be found in the 
opinions of sages or deduced from universal and ini 


TIIE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 


235 


men*- riai usage, and receiving progressively the sanc¬ 
tion of the courts, it is nevertheless true that the com¬ 
mon law, so far as it is applicable to our situation and 
government, has been recognized and adopted as one 
entire system by the constitutions of Massachusetts, 
New York, New Jersey, and Maryland. It has been 
assumed by the courts of justice or declared by 
statutes, with like modification, as the law of the land 
in every State. It was imported by our colonial an¬ 
cestors as far as it was applicable, and sanctioned by 
royal charters and colonial statutes. It is also the es¬ 
tablished doctrine that English statutes passed before 
the emigration of our ancestors, and applicable to our 
situation, and in amendment of the law, constitute a 
part of the common law of this country.” 

The Civil Law is the Roman law as comprised in 
the Code, Institutes, Pandects, and Novels of Justinian 
and his successors. 

“ The Code, in twelve books, is a collection of all 
the imperial statutes that were thought worth preserv¬ 
ing: from Hadrian to Justinian.” 

© 

The Institutes or elements of Roman law, in four 
books, contain the fundamental principles of the an¬ 
cient law in a small body, for the use and benefit of 
students at law. 

The Pandects are an abridgment, in fifty books, 
of the decisions of praetors and the writings and 
opinions of the ancient sages in the law. This work 


236 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVEItKMENT. 


is supposed to contain the embodied wisdom of tho 
Roman people in civil jurisprudence for nearly twelve 
hundred years. 

The Novels of Justinian are a collection of impe 
rial statutes passed subsequent to the date of the Code, 
and intended to supply the omissions and correct tho 
errors of the preceding publications. “ The great 
body of the Roman or civil law,” says Kent, “ was 
collected and digested by order of the Emperor 
Justinian in the former part of the sixth century. 
That compilation has come down to modern times, 
and the institutions of every part of Europe have 
felt its influence, and it has contributed largely by the 
richness of its materials to their character and im¬ 
provement. With most of the European nations and 
m the new States in Spanish America, in the pro vince 
of Lower Canada, and in one of the United ! >tates 
[Louisiana] it constitutes the principal basis of their 
unwritten or common law. It exerts a very consider¬ 
able influence upon our own municipal law, an l par¬ 
ticularly on those branches of it which are of equity 
and admiralty jurisdiction, or fall within the cogni¬ 
zance of the surrogates’ or consistorial courts.” 

“The history of the venerable system of the civil 
law is peculiarly interesting. It was created and 
gradually matured on the banks of the Tiber by the 
successive wisdom of Roman statesmen, mao*-'Crates, 

' O I 

and sages, and after governing the greatest pc cd 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 23^ 

the ancient world for the space of thirteen or fourteen 
centuries, and undergoing extraordinary vicissitudes 
after the fall of the Western Empire, it was revived, 
admired, and studied in modern Europe on account of 
the variety and excellence of its general principles. 
It is now taught and obeyed not only in France, 
Spain, Germany, Holland, and Scotland, but in the 
islands of the Indian Ocean and on the banks of the 
Mississippi and the St. Lawrence. So true, it sterns, 
are the words of D’Aguesseau, that “ the grand destinies 
of Rome are not yet accomplished ; she reigns through¬ 
out the world by her reason, after having ceased to 
reign by her authority.” 

“ The Canon Law is a collection of ordinances for 
the regulation of the polity and discipline of the 
Church of Rome, consisting for the most part of or¬ 
dinances of general and provincial councils, decrees 
promulgated by the popes with the sanction of the 
cardinals, and decretal epistles and bulls of the 
popes.”* 

By a statute of Henry VIII., a portion of the canou 
law has authority in England. This, together with 
other portions of the ecclesiastical law of England, is 
administered by the ecclesiastical courts. There are 
four ecclesiastical courts in England; an appeal lies 
from them to the Privy Council. There are no eccle- 
iiastical law courts in the United States. 


* BurrilL 


238 


THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT, 


Martial Law is a system of rules for the government 
of an army. When martial law is proclaimed in a 
city or district, the will of the military commander 
becomes the supreme law. The civil authority and 
ordinary administration of the law are either wholly 
suspended or subjected to military power. Military 
law is administered by Courts Martial. 

Parliamentary Law is a system of rules for regu¬ 
lating the proceedings of legislative and other deliber¬ 
ative bodies. These rules were originally derived 
from the usages of the British Parliament, and have 
been, with some modifications, adopted by Congress 
and the State legislatures, and, so far as they are nre¬ 
plicable, by all public assemblies. 



“The American or English reader,” says Lieber, 
“ brought up, almost from early youth, in an acquaint¬ 
ance with, and in many respects even under the influ¬ 
ence of the parliamentary law and usage—for it ex¬ 
tends to our very schools—considers many things 
most natural and hardly worth reflection, which never¬ 
theless required ages to become acknowledged, and 
for want of which civil liberty or the expedition of 
common business could not prosper. All usages and 
laws which relate to debating are of essential im¬ 
portance to liberty itself, and they must be considered 
as one of the safeguards of liberty which we possess 
in advance of the ancients. * * * The whole first 

French Revolution is one continued melancholy in- 


239 


/ 

THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 

stance of the want of this law and usage. Foi a 
whole week the members would debate and inflame 
one another without having even so much as a question 
before the house.” 

Dumont, the editor of Bentham’s works, relates 
an instructive anecdote: 

“ These primary assemblies (to elect deputies) 
were at a loss how to organize themselves and to 
make an election. During breakfast at Montreuil-sur- 
mer, our landlord gave us an account of the tumult 
and embarrassment of their meetings; two or three 
hours had been lost already in palavering and disor¬ 
der ; a president, a secretary, ballots, or votes, count¬ 
ing the votes—all this was unknown. Dumont and 
his friends, in mere joke, drew up some regulations. 
The host, delighted, took them, and when Dumont 
arrived at Paris, the papers bestowed much praise on 
the commune of Montreuil on account of the greater 
order with which the election had been carried on 
than anywhere else !” 

Every assembly is at liberty to adopt its own rules 
of proceeding, subject to its constitution, if it have 
one; but the same rules, so far as they are applicable 
in each case, have been very generally adopted by all 
parliamentary bodies. 


CONSTITUTION 


OF THE 


UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 


Note by the Publishers. —The Constitution and Amend 
ments are here printed with the orthography, punctuation, and 
capitals of the original documents, as certified to by the Hon. 
William H. Seward, Secretary of State. The figures, however, at 
the heads of the parts of the sections are not in the originals: 
they are here used for convenience in reference. 


PREAMBLE. 

We, the People of the United States, i±» order to 
form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure 
domestic Tranquillity, provide for the common defence, 
promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings 
of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain 
and establish this Constitution for the United States 
s f America. 


ARTICLE I. 

Section 1. — (1.) All legislative Powers herein granted 
eh all be vested in. a Congress of the United States, 
which shall consist of a Senate and House of Repr©' 
•entatives. 




CONSTITUTION OS' THE UNITED STATES. 


41 


Sec. 2.—(1.) The House of Representatives shall be 
composed of Members chosen every second Year by 
the People of the several States, and the Electors in 
each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for 
Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State 
Legislature. 

(2.) No Person shall be a Representative who shall not 
have attained to the Age of twenty-five Years, and been 
seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who 
shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that state 
in which he shall be chosen. 

(3.) Representatives and direct Taxes shall be appor¬ 
tioned among the several States which may be included 
within this Union, according to their respective Num ¬ 
bers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole 
Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service 
for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, 
three fifths of all oilier Persons. The actual Enumera¬ 
tion shall be made within three Years after the first 
Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and 
within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such 
Manner they as shall by Law direct. The Number of 
Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty 
Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Rep¬ 
resentative; and until such enumeration shall be made, 
the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse 
three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Provi¬ 
dence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, 
New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, 
Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South 
Carolina five, and Georgia three. 


242 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES* 

(4.) When vacancies happen in the Representation 
from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall 
issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies. 

(5.) The House of Representatives shall chuse their 
Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole 
Rower of Impeachment. 

Sec. 3.—(1.) The Senate of the United States shall 
be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen 
by the Legislature thereof, for six Years; and each Sen¬ 
ator shall have one Vote. 

(2.) Immediately after they shall be assembled in Con¬ 
sequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as 
equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the 
Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expi¬ 
ration of the second Year, of the second Class at the 
Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class 
at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third 
may be chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies 
happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Re¬ 
cess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive 
thereof may make temporary Appointments until the 
next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill 
such Vacancies. 

(3.) No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have 
attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine 
Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall 
not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State foi 
which he shall be chosen. 

(4.) The Vice President of the United States shall be 
President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless 
they be equally divided. 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 213 

(5.) The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and 
also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the 
Vice president, or when he shall exercise the Office of 
President of the United States. 

(6.) The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all 
Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they 
shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President 
of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall 
preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the 
Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present. 

(7.) Judgment, in Cases of Impeachment shall not ex¬ 
tend further than to removal from Office, and Disqual¬ 
ification to hold and enjoy any Office of honour, Trust or 
Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted 
shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, 
Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law. 

Sec. 4. — (1.) The Times, Places and Manner of hold¬ 
ing Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be 
prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; 
but the Congress may at any time by Law make or 
alter such Regulations, except as to the places of claus¬ 
ing Senators. 

(2.) The Congress shall assemble at least once in every 
Year, and such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in 
December, unless they shall by Law appoint a different 

Day- V . 

Sec. 5.—(1.) Each House shall be the Judge of the Elec¬ 
tions, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, 
and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do 
Business; but a smaller Number may adjourn from day 
to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attend-* 


244 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

ance of absent Members, in sucb Manner, and unde* 
such Penalties as each House may provide. 

(2.) Each House may determine the Rules of its Pro¬ 
ceedings. punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, 
and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Mem¬ 
ber. 

(3.) Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceed¬ 
ings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting 
such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; 
and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House 
on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those 
Present, be entered on the Journal. 

(4.) Neither House, during the Session of Congress, 
shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for 
more than three days, nor to any other Place than that 
in which the two Houses shall be sitting. 

Sec. 6.—(1.) The Senators and Representatives shall 
receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascer¬ 
tained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the 
United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, 
Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from 
Arrest during their Attendance at the session of their 
respective Houses, and in going to and returning from 
the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either 
House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place. 

(2.) No Senator or Representative shall, during the 
Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any 
civil Office under the Authority of the United States, 
which shall have been created, or the Emoluments 
whereof shall have been increased diuing such time; 
and no Person holding any Office under the United 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 


245 


States, shall be a Member of either House during his 
Continuance in Office. 

Sec. 7.—(1.) All Bills for raising Revenue shall orig¬ 
inate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate 
may propose or concur with Amendments as on other 
Bills. 

(2.) Every Bill -which shall have passed the House of 
Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become 
a Law, be presented to the President of the United 
States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he 
shall return it, with his Objections to that House in 
which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Ob¬ 
jections at large on their Journal, and proceed to recon¬ 
sider it. If after such Reconsideration twp thirds of 
that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, 
together with the Objections, to the other House, by 
which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if ap¬ 
proved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a 
Law. But, in all such Cases, the Votes of both Houses 
shall be determined by yeas and Nays, and the Names of 
the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be en¬ 
tered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any 
Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten 
Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been pre¬ 
sented to him, the Same shall be a law, in like Manner 
as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their 
Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall 
not be a Law. 

(3.) Every Order, Resolution, or Vote, to which the 
Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representa¬ 
tives may be necessary (except on a question of Ad- 


210 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

journment) shall be presented to the President of tha 
United States: and before the Same shall take Effect^ 
shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, 
shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House 
of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limita¬ 
tions prescribed in the Case of a bill. 

Sec. 8. —The Congress shall have Power 

(1.) To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Ex 
cises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common 
Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but 
all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform 
throughout the United States; 

(&.) To borrow Money on the credit of the United 
States; 

(3.) To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and 
among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes; 

(4.) To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, 
and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies 
throughout the United States; 

(5.) To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of 
foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and 
Measures; 

(6.) To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting 
the Securities and current Coin of the United States; 

(7.) To establish Post Offices and post Roads; 

(8.) To promote the progress of Science and useful 
Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and In¬ 
ventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings 
and Discoveries; 

(9.) To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme 
Court; 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 


247 


(10.) To define and punisli Piracies and Felonies com¬ 
mitted on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law 
of Nations; 

(11.) To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and 
Beprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land 
and Water; 

(12.) To raise and support Armies, but no Appropria 
fcion of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term 
than two Years; 

(13.) To provide and maintain a Navy; 

(14.) To make Rules for the Government and Regula¬ 
tion of the land and naval Forces; 

(15.) To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute 
the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and re¬ 
pel Invasions; 

(16.) To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplin¬ 
ing, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them 
as may be employed in the Service of the United States, 
reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of 
the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia 
according to the Discipline prescribed by Congress; 

(17.) To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases 
whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles 
square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the 
Acceptarce of Congress, become the Seat of Govern¬ 
ment of the United States, and to exercise like Author¬ 
ity over all Places purchased by the Consent of the 
Legislature of the State in which the same shall be, for 
the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, Dock-Yards* 
and other needful Buildings;—And 

(18.) To make all Laws which shall be necessary and 


243 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 


proper for carrying into execution tlie foregoing Pow¬ 
ers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in 
the Government of the United St ates, or in any Depart¬ 
ment or Officer thereof. 

Sec. 9.—(1.) The Migration or Importation of such 
Persons as any of the States now existing shall think 
proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Con¬ 
gress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and 
eight, but a Tax or Duty may be imposed on such Im¬ 
portation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person. 

(2.) The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall 
not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or 
Invasion the public Safety may require it. 

(3.) No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall 
be passed. 

(4.) No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, 
unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration 
hereinbefore directed to be taken. 

(5.) No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported 
from any State. 

(6.) No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of 
Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over 
those of another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, 
one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in 
. another. 

(7.) No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but 
in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a 
regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Ex¬ 
penditures of all public Money shall be published from 
time to time. 

(8.) No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 249 

States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or 
Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of tha 
Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, 01 
Title of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or 
foreign State. 

Sec. 10. —(1.) No State shall enter into any Treaty, A1 
liance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and 
lleprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any 
Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of 
Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, 
or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts; or grant 
any Title of Nobility. 

(2.) No State shall, without the consent of the Con¬ 
gress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, 
except what may be absolutely necessary for executing 
its inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties 
and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, 
shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United 
States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revi¬ 
sion and Controul of the Congress. 

(3.) No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, 
lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War 
in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact 
with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage 
in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent 
Danger as will not admit of Delay. 

ARTICLE II. 

Section 1. — (1.) The executive Power shall be vested 
in a President of the United States of America. lie shaK 


250 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, 
together with the Vice President, chosen for the same 
Term, be elected as follows 

(2.) Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the 
Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, 
equal to the whole Number of Senators and Represen- 
tatives to which the State may be entitled in the Con¬ 
gress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person 
holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United 
States, shall be appointed an Elector. 

[3. *The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and 
vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be 
an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall 
make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of 
Votes for each ; which List they shall sign and certify, and trans¬ 
mit sealed to.ihe Seat of the Government of the United States, 
directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the 
Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Represen¬ 
tatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be 
counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall 
be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole 
Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one 
who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, 
then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse, by 
Ballot, one of them for President j and if no Person, have a Ma¬ 
jority, then, from the five highest on the List, the said House 
shall, in like Manner, chuse the President. But, in chusing the 
President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation 
from each State having one Vote; A Quorum for this Purpose 
shall ^consist of a Member or Members fi om two thirds of the 
States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a 
Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the 
Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall 
be the Vice President.. But if there should remain two or more 
who have equal Votes,»the Senate shall chuse from them, by Bal 
Lot, the Vice President.] 


This has been changed Article XII. of the Amendments. See page xxx. 




CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 


251 


(4.) The Congress may determine the Time of clausing 
the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give theii 
Votes; wliich Day shall be the same throughout the 
United States. 

(5.) No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Cit¬ 
izen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption 
of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of 
President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that 
Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty 
five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within 
the United States. 

(6.) In Case of the Removal of the President from 
Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to dis¬ 
charge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the 
same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Con¬ 
gress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, 
Death, Resignation, or Inability, both of the President 
and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then 
act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, 
until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be 
elected. 

(7.) The President shall, at stated Times, receive for 
his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be en- 
creased nor diminished during the Period for which he 
shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within 
that Period any other Emolument from the United 
States, or any of them. 

(8.) Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, 
he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation: — 

“ I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully 
execute the Office of President of the United States} 



252 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 


and will to the best of my Ability, preseiwe, protect, and 
defend the Constitution of the United States.” 

Sec. 2.—(1.) The President shall be Commander in 
Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and 
of the Militia of the several States, when called into the 
actual Service of the United States; he may require the 
Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of 
the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating 
to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall 
have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Of¬ 
fences against the United States, except in Cases of 
Impeachment. 

(2.) He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and 
Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two 
thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall 
nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of 
the Senate, shall appoint, Ambassadors, other publio 
Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, 
and all other Officers of the United States, whose Ap¬ 
pointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and 
which shall be established by Law: but the Congress 
may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior 
Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, 
in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments. 

(3.) The President shall have Power to fill up all Va¬ 
cancies that may happen during the Recess of the Sen- 
ate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the 
end of their next Session. 

Sec. 3.—(1.) He shall from time to time give to the 
Congress Information of the State of the Union, and 
recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 


253 


piiall judge necessary and expedient, He may, or ex¬ 
traordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either 
of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, 
with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may ad¬ 
journ them to such Time as he shall think proper: he 
shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers: 
he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed; 
and shall Commission all the officers of the United 
States. 

Sec. 4.—(1.) The President, Vice President, and all 
civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed 
from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, 
Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misde 
meanors. 


ARTICLE III. 

Section 1.—(1.) The judicial Power of the United 
States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in 
such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to 
time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the 
supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices 
during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, re¬ 
ceive for their Services, a Compensation which shall 
not be diminished during their Continuance in Office. 

Sec. 2.—(1.) The judicial Power shall extend to all 
Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitu¬ 
tion, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, 
or which shall be made, under their Authority;—to al 
Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers, 
and Consuls:—to ail Cases of admiralty and maritime 
Jurisdiction;—to Controversies to which the United 


254 CONSTITUTION OP THE UNITED STATES. 

States sliall be a Party;—to Controversies between two 
or more States;—between a State and Citizens of an¬ 
other State;—between Citizens of different States;— 
between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands un¬ 
der Grants of different States, and between a State, of 
the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or 
Subjects. 

(2.) In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public 
Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall 
be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Juris¬ 
diction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the 
supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both 
as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under 
such Regulations as the Congress shall make. 

(3.) The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Im¬ 
peachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be 
held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been 
committed; but when not committed within any State, 
the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Con¬ 
gress may by Law have directed. 

Sec. 3.—(1.) Treason against the United States, shall 
consist only in levying War against them, or in adher¬ 
ing to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. 
No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the 
Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or 
on Confession in open Court. 

(2.) The Congress shall have Power to declare the Pun¬ 
ishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall 
work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during 
the Life of the Person attainted. 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 


255 


ARTICLE IV. 

Section 1. — (1.) Full Faith and Credit shall he given 
in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial 
Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress 
may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which 
such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, 
and the Effect thereof. 

Sec. 2.—(1.) The Citizens of each State shall be en¬ 
titled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the 
several States. 

(2.) A Person charged in any State with Treason, Fel¬ 
ony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be 
found in another State, shall on Demand of the execu¬ 
tive Authority of the State from which he fled, be de¬ 
livered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdic¬ 
tion of the Crime. 

(3.) No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, 
under the Laws* thereof, escaping into another, shall, in 
Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be dis¬ 
charged from such Service or Labour, but shall be deliv¬ 
ered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or 
Labour* may be due. 

Sec. 3.—(1.) New States may be admitted by the 
Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be 
formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other 
State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two 
or more States, or Parts of States, without tlie Consent 
of the Legislatures of the States concerned, as well as 
of the Congress. 

(2.) The Congress shall have Power to dispose of, and 


256 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the 
Territory or other Property belonging to the United 
States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so 
construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United 
States, or of any particular State. 

Sec. 4.—(1.) The United States shall guarantee to 
every State in this Union a Republican Form of Gov¬ 
ernment, and shall protect each of them against Inva¬ 
sion, and, on Application of the Legislature, or of the 
Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) 
against domestic Violence. 

' ARTICLE V. 

(1.) The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses 
shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to 
this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legisla¬ 
tures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a 
Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either 
Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part 
of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures 
of three fourths of the several States, or by Conven¬ 
tions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other 
Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Con¬ 
gress; Provided that no Amendment which may be 
made prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred 
and eight shall in any Maimer affect the first and fourth 
Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and 
that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived oi 
its equal Suffrage in tlie Senate. 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 


2 It 


ARTICLE VI. 

(1.) All Debts contracted and Engagements entered 
into, before tlie Adoption of this Constitution, shall be 
as valid against the United States under this Constitu¬ 
tion, as under the Confederation. 

(2.) This Constitution, and the Laws of the United 
States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and 
all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the 
authority of the United States, shall be the supreme 
Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall 
be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or 
Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding. 

(3.) The Senators and Representatives before men¬ 
tioned, and the Members of the several State Legisla¬ 
tures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of 
the United States and of the several States, shall be 
bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Consti¬ 
tution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as 
a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the 
United States. 

ARTICLE VII. 

(1.) The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, 
shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Consti¬ 
tution between the States so ratifying the Same. 

Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the 
States present the Seventeenth Day of September 
in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hun¬ 
dred and Eighty seven and of the Independance oi 


253 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, 


the United States of America the Twelfth IN U fT- 
NESS whereof We have hereunto subscribed mi 
Names, 

GEO WASHINGTON — 
Presidt and deputy from Virginia 


NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

John Langdon, 

Nicholas Gilman. 

MASSACHUSETTS 
Nathaniel Gorham, 

Rufus King. 

CONNECTICUT. 

Wm. Sami. Johnson, 
Roger Sherman. 


DELAWARE. 
Geo: Read, 

John Dickinson, 

Jaco: Broom, 

Gunning Bedford, Jun’r., 
Richard Bassett, 

MARYLAND. 
James M’Henry 
Danl. Carroll, 

Dan: of St. Thos. Jenifer. 


NEW YORK. 
Alexander Hamilton. 

NEW JERSEY. 

Wil: Livingston, 

David Brearley, 

Wm. Paterson, 

Jona. Dayton. 

PENNSYTi VANIA. 

B. Franklin, 

Robt. Morris, 

Tho: Fitzsimons, 

James Wilson, 

Thomas Mifflin, 

Geo- Clymer, 

Jared Ingersoll, 

Gouv: Morris. 

Attest: 


VIRGINIA. 

John Blair, 

James Madison, Jr., 

NORTH CAROIINA. 

Wm. Blount, 

Hu. Williamson. 

Ricli’d Dobbs Spaiglit. 

SOUTH CAROLINA. 

J. Rutledge, 

Charles Pinckney, 

Charles Cotesworth Pinckney 
Pierce Butler. 

GEORGIA. 

William Few, 

Abr. Baldwin. 


William Jackson, Secretary , 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 


259 


ARTICLES IN ADDITION TO, AND AMEND¬ 
MENTS OF, THE CONSTITUTION. 

PROPOSED BY CONGRESS, AND RATIFIED BY THE LEGISLATURES 

OF THE SEVERAL STATES, PURSUANT TO THE FIFTH ARTICLE 

OF THE ORIGINAL CONSTITUTION. 

Article I. Congress shall make no law respecting an 
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exer¬ 
cise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of 
the press; or the right of the people peaceably to as¬ 
semble, and to petition the Government for a redress 
of grievances. 

Art. II. A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to 
the security of a free State, the right of the people to 
keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. 

Art. III. No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quar¬ 
tered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, 
nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed 
by law. 

Art. IV. The right of the people to be secure in C eil* 
persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasona¬ 
ble searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no 
Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, sup¬ 
ported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describ¬ 
ing the place to be searched, and the persons or things 
to be seized. 

Art. Y. No person shall be held to answer for a cap¬ 
ital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a present¬ 
ment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases 
arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, 


2G0 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 


when in actual service in time of War or public danger, 
nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to 
be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be 
compelled in any Criminal Case to be a witness against 
himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, 
without due process of law; nor shall private property 
be taken for public use, without just compensation. 

Art. VI. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused 
shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an 
impartial jury of the State and district wherein the 
crime shall have been committed, which district shall 
have been previously ascertained by law, and to be in¬ 
formed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to 
be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have 
Compulsory process for obtaining Witnesses in his 
favor and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his de¬ 
fence. 

Art. VII. In Suits at common law, where the value 
in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of 
trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a 
jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the 
United States, than according to the rules of the com¬ 
mon law. 

Art. VIII, Excessive bail shall not be required, nor 
excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punish¬ 
ments inflicted. 

Art. IX. The enumeration in the Constitution of cer¬ 
tain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage 
others retained by the people. 

Art. X. The powers not delegated to the United 
States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNI1ED STATES. 261 

States, are reserved to tlie States respectively, or to the 
people. 

Art. XI. The Judicial power of the United States 
shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law oi 
equity commenced or prosecuted against one of the 
United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citi¬ 
zens or Subjects of any Foreign State. 

Art. XII. The Electors shall meet in their respective 
states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-Presi¬ 
dent, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant 
of the same state with themselves; they shall name in 
their ballots the person voted for as President, and in 
distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, 
and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted 
for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice- 
President, and of the number of votes for each, which 
lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to 
the seat of the government of the United States, directed 
to the President of the Senate;—the President of the 
Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House 
of Representatives, open all the certificates and the 
votes shall then be counted;—the person having the 
greatest number of votes for President, shall be the 
President, if such number be a majority of the whole 
number of Electors appointed; and if no person have 
such majority, then from the persons having the highest 
numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted 
for as President, the House of Representatives shall 
choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But, in 
choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by 
states, the representation from each state having one 


262 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a mem¬ 
ber or members from two thirds of the states, and a 
majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice 
And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a 
President whenever the right of choice shall devolve 
upon them, before the fourth day of March next follow¬ 
ing, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as 
in the case of the death or other constitutional disabil¬ 
ity of the President. The person having the greatest 
number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice- 
President, if such number be a majority of the whole 
number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a 
majority, then from the two highest numbers on the 
list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quo¬ 
rum for the purpose shall consist of two thirds of the 
whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole 
number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person 
constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall 
be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United 
States. 

Art. XIII. —Sec. 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary 
servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the 
party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within 
the United States, or any place subject to their iuris- 
diction. 

Sec. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this 
article by appropriate legislation. 

Art. XIV. —Sec. 1. All persons born or naturalized 
in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction 
thereof, are citizens of the United States, and of the 
State wherein they reside. No State shall make ol 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 


263 


enforce any law which sliall abridge the privileges or 
immunities of citizens of the United States ; nor shall 
any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or prop¬ 
erty, without due process of law, nor deny to any per¬ 
son within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the 
laws. 

Sec. 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among 
the several States according to their respective num¬ 
bers, counting the whole number of persons in each 
State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the 
right to vote at any election for the choice of Electors 
for President of the United States, Representatives in 
Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a State, 
or the members of the Legislature thereof, js denied to 
any of the male inhabitants of such State, being 
twenty-one years of age and citizens of the United 
States, or in any way abridged, except for participa¬ 
tion in rebellion or other crime, the basis of represen¬ 
tation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which 
the number of such male citizens shall bear to the 
whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of 
age in such State. 

Sec. 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representa¬ 
tive in Congress, or Elector of President and Vice- 
President, or hold any office, civil or military, under 
the United States, or under any State, who, having 
previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or 
as a member of any State Legislature, or as an execu¬ 
tive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Con¬ 
stitution of the United States, shall have engaged in 


264 * CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid 
and comfort to tbe enemies thereof. But Congress 
may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove 
such disability. 

Sec. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United 
States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for 
payment of pensions and bounties for services in sup¬ 
pressing insurrection and rebellion, shall not be ques¬ 
tioned. But neither the United States nor any\State 
shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred 
in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United 
States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any 
slave ; but all such debts, obligations, or claims, shah 
be held illegal and void. 

Sec. 5. Congress shall have power to enforce, by 
appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. 

Aet. XV.— Sec. 1. The right of the citizens of the 
United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged 
by the United States, or by any State, on account of 
race, color, or previous condition of servitude. 

Sec. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce 
this article by appropriate legislation. 

Note. —Article XV. was proposed by Congress in 1869, as an amendment tc 
the Constitution, and it is now before the Legislatures of the different States foi 
adoption, as required by Article V. of the Constitution. The Legislatures o» 
some States have adopted it. 



QUESTIONS. 


CHAPTER I. 

1. What is the object of Government? 

2. What is needed that men may live together in peace ? 

3. What is the office of Government with respect to this end ? 

4. What is necessary to the existence of government ? 

5. What is meant by civil society ? 

6. Why cannot men live together without government? 

7. What consequences would follow the absence of all laws? 

8. What is a state of anarchy ? 

9. Is civil society of human or divine origin ? 

10. How does it appear that God made men to live together in 
society ? 

11. What is said of the savage state? 

12. To what is a social civilized state necessary? 

13. What would be the result if all men should attempt to lead 
solitary lives? 

14. What is said of those living in a savage state? 

15. State in what respect savages are inferior to civilized men. 
1G. Why are the powers of men living in a savage state imper¬ 
fectly developed ? 

17. What state furnishes the conditions for developing man’s 
powers ? 

18. What inference is drawn from these considerations ? 

19. Is the State a voluntary society ? 

20. Is it the result of a social compact ? 

21. What is meant by a social compact ? 

22. What does history say about such an event ? 

23. What is it said men bind themselves by the social compact 
to do? 

24. On wliat, then, is their obligation to be subject to the re¬ 
straints of society founded ? 



206 


QUESTIONS, 


25. How does it appear that the compact cannot be the ground 
of any obligation ? 

26. What are the fundamental laws of society ? 

27. Do the rules of justice owe their authority to the consent 
of the governed ? 

28. How do men become members of the State ? 

20. Why is man a subject of law? 

30. Why may not men abjure society ? 

31. What is necessary in order to be a man ? 

32. Suppose all men should vote to abolish society and govern 
ment, how would it affect men’s obligation to have society and 
government ? 

33. What is said of the State and the government ? 

34. When do they not co-exist ? 

35. What is the relation of government to the State ? 

36. When does the State perform extraordinary acts ? 

37. What are such acts termed ? 

38. What kind of an institution is Government ? 

39. How does that appear ? 

40. What do the Scriptures teach on this subject ? 

41. What is the fundamental idea of the State? 

42. What should all its rules be ? 

43. Under what conditions would laws be unnecessary? 

44. How does it appear that men should act justly? 

45. What is the State under obligation to secure to its members? 

46. Why is the State under obligation to have government ? 

47. Where does the supreme power reside ? 

48. Whence does government derive its powers ? 

49. By what is the power of the State limited ? 

50. What powers is the State under obligation to give the gov* 
ernment ? 

51. When we say the sovereign power belongs to the State, 
what do we mean ? 

52. In what capacity does the sovereign power belong to the 
people ? 

53. How may the relation of individuals to the sovereign power 
be illustrated ? 

54 State the illustration. 

55. Is the sovereign power of the State divisible among the in 
Jividuals who compose the State? 


QUESTIONS. 


267 


CHAPTEB II. 

t 

1. What obligation of the State is mentioned? 

2. What question is asked ? 

3. What is the opinion of some respecting the right to vote? 

4. What is the opinion of others ? 

. 5. Is the proposition, “ Every one has a right to vote,” a self 
evident truth ? 

6. What consequence follows the admission of the proposition, 
that the right to vote is an attribute of humanity ? 

7. What is regarded by some as the ground of man’s duty to 
obey the laws ? 

8. Why is man a subject of law ? 

0. How does he become a member of the State ? 

10. To what fundamental law is he subject? 

11. Is his consent asked ? 

12. What consequence follows the proposition, that those ''tiy 
are subject to laws who have a voice in making them? 

13. How do those reason who deny the doctrine of univei^aj 
suffrage ? 

14. If suffrage be restricted, on what principle should the restric¬ 
tions be made ? 

15. Suppose that limiting suffrage to property holders would 
secure the choice of the best rulers ? 

16. Who are interested in having good rulers ? 

17. On what ground do the advocates of a property qualifica* 
tion defend their views ? 

18. What is to determine the question, Should the right of suf¬ 
frage be confined to those who can read and write ? 

19. Will the ability to read and write qualify one to vote wisely ? 

20. State the supposed case of the ship at sea. 

21. Have all the passengers an equal interest, so far as life is 
concerned, in the safety of the ship? 

22. Does that prove that they should all vote in the choice of a 
captain ? 

23. What is said of the analogy between the supposed ship and! 
the ship of state? 

24. Who are interested in having the best rulers ? 


i 


268 


QUESTIONS. 


25. What course should, then, he adopted ? 

26. Would such a course infringe on the rights of any ? 

27. To what has every man a right ? 

28. What is said about the limitation of the elective franchise l 

29. What took place soon after the adoption of the Constitution ? 


CHAPTER III. 

1. What is the great end of government ? 

2. What would follow the perfect administration of justice? 

3. What difference is there between securing justice and secur¬ 
ing liberty ? 

4. Of what is liberty the result ? 

5. What do many suppose in regard to men’s freedom ? 

6. What do they suppose men relinquish by becoming mem* 
bers of the State ? 

7. How do men become members of the State, and subjects of 

law? 

8. What follows from that fact ? 

9. Is a man at liberty to do in society what he would be at 
liberty to do if he were a solitary being ? 

10. How does it appear that he has not relinquished the rights 
of a solitary being ? What comparison is made ? 

11. What is law designed to secure to man? 

12. Why, when it forbids him to take poison or murder, does it 
Hot abridge his liberty ? 

13. What liberty can he not claim ? 

14. Suppose the law forbids only that which is wrong ? 

15. To what has every one a right? 

16. When does the law furnish this? 

17. What is Macintosh’s definition of liberty? 

18. What freedom can man claim ? 

19. When has he all the liberty he can ask? 

20. What would a just and wise system of laws forbid and 
permit ? 

21. What would the perfect execution of such laws furnish? 

22. What would the perfection of law secure ? 

23. What do some suppose liberty consists in ? 

24. What may men having the privilege of self-government do? 

25. Of what is liberty the result? 



QUESTIONS. 


269 


26. Why is not a despotic government, if it make and execute 
fctise laws, a free government V 

27. What is essential to liberty? 

28. What is the best kind of government ? 

29. How can we determine wliat is the best kind for a partita? 
lar nation ? 

30. What are the three forms of government ? 

31. What is a Monarchy ? 

32. What are the titles of the different monarclis of Europe ? 

33. What is an Absolute Monarchy ? 

34. Wherein do Absolute Monarchy and Despotism differ? 

35. What is said of absolute monarchy when the monarch is an 
able man ? 

36. How does that appear? 

37. What have republics sometimes found it necessary to do ? 

38. What examples are given ? 

39. What is said of the absolute monarch? 

40. What is a Limited Monarchy ? 

41. What is a Constitution? 

42. Are constitutions written or unwritten ? 

43. Of what does the Constitution of Great Britain consist? 

44. In an hereditary monarchy, who succeeds to the crown on 
the deatli of the monarch ? 

45. What is meant by the maxim, “ The king never dies ”? 

46. Which is preferable, an hereditary or an elective monarchy ? 

47. Define Aristocracy. 

48. Wliat is the testimony of history respecting this form of 
government ? 

49. What is a Republic ? 

50. What is a pure Democracy ? 

51. What example is given ? • 

52 To which of the three forms of government does the English 
Government belong ? 


CHAPTER IV. 

1. How many Theories of Representation are there? 

2. State the commonly received theory of representation. 



270 


QUESTIONS. 


3. Wliat doctrine is a logical inference from this theory? 

4. What does that doctrine require the representative to do? 

5 State at large the objection to this theory. 

6. When ought the will of the people to be obeyed ? 

7. Show that the people are not infallible. 

8. What are many of the provisions of government designed 
$c prevent? 

9. State another theory of representation. 

10. Why should the people select good and wise men? 

11. What should the representatives be restrained by? 

12. What should the duties of the legislator be prescribed by? 

13. How far should the representative conform to the wishes ol 
his constituents ? 

14. What is a Constitution ? 

15. Suppose the constitution comes m conflict with the law of 
rectitude ? 

16. Wliat limitation is there to the power of the government ? 

17. Suppose the legislature passes a law in violation of the Con¬ 
stitution ? 

18. How is such a law to be declared void ? 

19. Can a man decline to obey a law because he thinks it un¬ 
constitutional ? 

20. What is his duty in regard to it ? 

21. When is the will of the people supreme? 

22. In what way should constitutions be changed? 

23. What is said about the propriety of changing the constitu¬ 
tion? 

24. What law is higher than constitutional law ? 

25. Suppose the law of the land comes in conflict with the law 
of God? 

26. Who is to decide whether a law is contrary to the law of 
God or not ? 

27. Why may not Congress or the Supreme Court decide the 
question ? 

28. Show that the right of private judgment would not lead to 
anarchy. 

29. Under what circumstances may a government originating 
In fraud or violence claim obedience? 

30. How long may it be the duty of the people t« obey a gov 
comment which may have no right to command ? 


QUESTIONS. 


2 

81. Does every act of oppression justify resistance to tlie gov¬ 
ernment ? 

32. When may the people resist and overthrow a government f 

33. What is this right termed? 

34. What is said of the worst kind of government ? 

35. To what does anarchy lead ? 


CHAPTER Y. 

1. What educating influence had the Colonial governments? 

2. When and where did the first representative legislature 
meet? 

3. How had the people of Virginia been previously governed ? 

4. What compact did the Pilgrim Fathers form ? 

5. By whom was it signed ? 

6. What officers were elected under this compact? 

7. Where did the legislative power of the colony reside? 

8. What change was made in 1639 ? 

Th When and how was the colony of Plymouth joined to that 
of Massachusetts? 

10. Under what auspiees was the colony of Massachusetts 
planted ? 

11. What powers had the company? 

12. Where was the government of the colony at first ? 

13. In what way was it transferred to the colony ? 

14. How did the charter provide that the government should be 
administered ? 

15. Who were meant by freemen of the company? 

16. What did the officers chosen do with the charter ? 

17. What powers of government did the colony of Massachu¬ 
setts then possess ? 

18. In what respects were the governments of all the colonies 
similar ? 

19. Into what three classes have the governments been divided 1 

20. Describe the Provincial Governments. 

21. Describe the Proprietary Governments. 

22. Describe the Charter Governments. 



272 


QUESTIONS. 


23. What amount of power was possessed rr v>he people of the 
colonies? 

24. What advantages resulted from the forms granted them ? 

25. What relations did the colonies sustain to one another? 

26. What privileges did the colonists claim? 

27. What power did Parliament claim over the colonists? 

28. What was the Stamp Act, and its design? 

29. What effect did this act have ? 

36 What did the attempt to raise a revenue lead to? 

31. When and where did the first Congress meet? 

32. How were the delegates chosen ? 

33. What did this Congress do ? 

# 

34. When did the second Congress meet ? 

35. What were some of its acts ? 

36. What powers did Congress assume after the Declaration oi 
Independence ? 

37. What has this government by Congress been called ? 


CHAPTER VI. 

1. When did Congress take measures for forming a league oi 
union between the States ? 

2. What measures were taken with reference to this end ? 

3. By whom were the Articles of Confederation agreed upon ? 

4. When were they to become binding ? 

5. When were they ratified i>y all the States ? 

6. What was the design of the Articles? 

7. What provision did they make for a congress ? 

8. How were the States to be represented in Congress? 

9. How were the delegates to Congress paid ? 

10. How was the voting done ? 

11. Had the States equal power in Congress? 

12. State some of the leading powers of Congress. 

13. How many States were required to carry all important 
measures ? 

14. What provision was made for a Judiciary? 

15. What provision for an Executive Department? 

16. What was the great defect of the Confederation ? 



QUESTIONS. 


273 


17. ITow was money raised for the treasury of the Confederation? 

18. What power had Congress to regulate commerce ? 

19. To what were the defects of the Confederation leading the 
country? 

20. What remark of Washington is quoted? 


CHAPTER VII. 

1 Who led the way in forming the Constitution ? 

2. State the measures taken by Madison in 1784. 

3. What did he induce the Legislature of Virginia to do? 

4. What States were represented at the Convention at An 
napolis ? 

5. What action was taken by the Convention ? 

G. Who drew up the recommendation ? 

7. What did it propose? 

8. By what State was the recommendation acted upon first ? 

9. What action was taken by Congress ? 

10. When and where did the Federal Convention meet ? 

11. What was the whole number of delegates? 

12. Name some of the leading members. 

13. What did Madison say respecting the ability of the members 
of the Convention ? 

14. Who was the President of the Convention ? 

15. What rule in regard to secresy was adopted ? 

16. Who kept a record of proceedings? 

17. When was it published ? 

18. Who made the opening speech of the Convention ? 

19. State the plan of government proposed by Randolph. 

20. How long were the resolutions of Randolph debated ? 

21. What was the first resolution passed by the Convention ? 

22. With what views did a majority of the Convention as¬ 
semble ? 

23. What change of views took place? 

24. State the plan of government embodied in the nineteen res¬ 
olutions passed by the Convention. 

25. What were some of the difficulties in the way of progress? 

26. What plan was proposed by Mr. Patterson ? 

27. State briefly the character of the two plans then before tha 
Convention. 

28. Which plan was adopted, and by what majority? 

29. State Hamilton’s plan of government. 

30. What proposition was made by Franklin, in view of the dii 
Acuities experienced by the Convention ? 

31. What did Washington say, in view of those difficulties? 



274 


QUESTIONS. 


33. What was done when a majority had agreed upon the lead 
ing provisions of the Constitution? 

33. How long was the report of the Committee of Detail debated ? 

34. Who revised the style and arranged the Articles of the Con 
etitution ? 

35. What amendment was made at the suggestion of Wash 
ington ? 

36. By whom was the Constitution signed ? 

37. Mention some of Franklin’s remarks. 

38. Mention some of Hamilton’s remarks. 


CHAPTER VIII. 

1. What action did Congress take respecting the Constitution 
when laid before it? 

3. How was the Constitution received by the people ? 

3. What two eminent patriots opposed it? 

4. Who were some of the ablest writers in defence of the Con¬ 
stitution ? 

5. What were the friends of the Constitution called? 

6. How was the Constitution adopted ? 

7. What State adopted it first, and at what time? 

8. What two States adopted it last? 

9. In what States was it adopted by large, and in what States 
by small, majorities? 

10. Who was President of the Massachusetts Convention ? 

11. Who were the leading advocates of the Constitution in the 
Convention ? 

13. Who were the leading advocates in the New York Conven¬ 
tion ? 

13. What State refused to adopt the Constitution ? 

14. What was the action of Rhode Island in regard to it ? 

15. What was done when nine States had adopted the Constitu¬ 
tion ? 

16. When were elections for officers of the new government 
held ? 

17. When was the new government to go into operation? 

18. Who were elected President and Vice-President? 

19. When and where was Washington inaugurated? 

20. Name the members of his Cabinet. 

21. When did North Carolina and Rhode Island come into th« 
Union ? 




QUESTIONS. 


275 


CHAPTER IX. 

1. Repeat the Preamble. 

2. Wliat two views of the Constitution are memionedT 

3. State the league or compact view. 

4. State the true view. 

5. By whom can the Constitution he abolished or changed ? 

6. Why can not a State change or abolish it ? 

7. What evidence have you that the Federal Convention in* 
tended to make a national government instead of a league? 

8. Give the substance of Mr. Webster’s remarks on this subject. 

9. What was one ground of objection to the Constitution? 

10. What objection was urged by Patrick Henry? 

11. What was said by Mr. Wilson, in the Pennsylvania Con¬ 
vention ? 

12. What was said by Mr. Johnson, in the Connecticut Con¬ 
vention ? 

13. Were Wilson and Johnson members of the Federal Con* 
vention ? 

14. By whom does tne preau^.o oa y me constitution was or¬ 
dained and established ? 

15. Does the Constitution say any thing about a league or com 
pact ? 

16. What does the second section of the sixth article of the 
Constitution declare ? 

17. What arbiter for the decision of questions relating to the 
violation of the Constitution, does the Constitution appoint? 

18. In what way can a question respecting the constitutionality 
of a law be brought before the Supreme Court? 

19. What decision of thfe Supreme Court is mentioned ? 

20. Why should not the States of the Union be called Sovereign 
States ? 


CHAPTER X. 

1. What are the three departments of government. 

2. Why should these departments be distinct and independent ? 

3. Is it possible to make any one of these departments per¬ 
fectly independent of the others ? 

4. Where is the legislative power of the Government of th« 
United States vested ? 



276 


QUESTIONS. 


5. Of wliat does Congress consist ? 

6. Why are two Houses better than one? 

7. Why should the two Houses be differently constituted t 

8. Of what does the Parliament of Great Britain consist ? 

9. Of what does the House of Commons consist? 

10. Of what does the House of Lords* consist ? 

11. How is the House of Representatives composed? 

12. What can be said in favor of the Term of Service ? 

13. Who may vote for Representatives ? 

14. Why this provision of the Constitution ? 

15. How old must a Representative be ? 

10. Why this provision ? 

17. How old must a member of the House of Commons be ? 

18. What is required with respect to Citizenship and Inhabitancy. 

19. Why should a Representative be an inhabitant of the Stats 
for which he is chosen ? 

20. Into what districts are the States divided ? 

21. Must a Representative be an inhabitant of the District for 
which he is chosen ? 

22. What advantages might follow going out of a District for a 
Representative ? 

23. What is said respecting the inhabitancy of the members of 
the House of Commons ? 

24. Is there a property qualification for a Representative ? 

25. State the provisions of the Constitution in regard to the ap 
portionment of Representatives and direct taxes. 

26. What limitation is there to the number of Representatives ? 

27. Suppose a State has less than thirty thousand inhabitants? 

28. Do the Representatives vote by States, or as individuals ? 

29. Why were three-fifths of the slaves counted in the basis of 
representation ? 

30. Is the word slave found in the Constitution ? 

31. What has taken place in regard to the ratio of representa 
tion as population has increased ? 

32. What is done when vacancies occur in the representation 
for any State? 

33. How are the Speaker and other officers of the House of 
Representatives chosen ? 

34. Where is the power of Impeachment vested? 

85. What is meant by Impeachment ? 


CHAPTER XI. 

1. now is the Senate composed? 

2. Why the provision that the Senators shall be chosen by th« 
Legislatures of the States ? 



QUESTIONS. 


277 


3. Why (lo the large and the small States have the same num¬ 
ber of Senators ? 

4. Why should each State have two Senators ? 

5. What can he said in favor of the term of service ? 

6. Into how many classes were the Senators divided ? 

7 What was the object of this division ? 

8. What must be the age of a Senator ? 

9. Why this provision ? 

10. How long must the Senator have been a citizen? 

11. Why was that length of time required ? 

12. Who presides over the Senate ? 

13. Why should not the Senate choose its own presiding officer 

14. When does the Senate choose a President pro tempore ? 

15. How is the House of Lords composed ? 

1G. Name the different orders of nobility. 

17. By whom are peers created? 

18. How may the King carry a measure in the House of Lords ? 

19. Who is the presiding officer of the House of Lords? 

20. Where is the power to try impeachments vested ? 

21. Who presides in the Senate when the President is tried? 

22. Why should not the Vice-President preside on that occasion? 

23. What vote is necessary to conviction ? 

24. By whom must the impeachment be made ? 

25. Why should not the impeached be tried by a court of justice 
instead of the Senate ? 

26. Whence was this provision of the Constitution borrowed? 

27. What penalties can be indicted on those convicted, on im¬ 
peachment ? 

28. What penalties can be indicted in Great Britain ? 

29. Suppose a man be impeached and convicted of a crime pun¬ 
ishable by law? 

30. What provision of the Constitution in regard to the time, 
place, and manner of holding elections ? 

31 How often must Congress meet ? 

32. Why should it meet once a year? 

33. Who judge of the election and qualification of members? 

34. What reason for this provision ? 

35. How many are necessary to constitute a quorum? 

36. What may a smaller number do? 

37. Give the reasons for those provisions? 

38. Why should each House determine the rules for its pro¬ 
ceedings? 

39. How may a member be expelled? 

40. What do the rules that govern the proceeding!" cf leg 5 slat’v« 
bodies constitute? 

41. What does the Constitution require as it iVs keeping oi * 
journal f 

42. Is it to be published? 

43. When must the yeas and nays be called * 


278 


QUESTIONS. 


44. Give the reasons for the above-mentioned provisions. 

45. With what exceptions are the proceedings of Congress to bfl 
open to the public? 

48. What is necessary in order to be permitted to witness the 
proceedings of Parliament ? 

47. What is done when a vote is taken? 

48. What does the Constitution say respecting the adjournments 
of Congress? 

49 How are members of Congress paid for their services ? 

50. What special privileges do they enjoy ? 

51. Why are these privileges conferred? 

52. Suppose a member of Congress commits a high crime ? 

53. To what offices are members of Congress ineligible? 

54. What reason can be given for this ? 

55. Can the members of the United States Cabinet hold seats in 
Congress ? 

58. Can members of the English Cabinet hold seats in the House 
of Commons ? 

57. Where must all bills for revenue originate? 

58. Whence was this provision borrowed ? 

59. Can the Senate amend a revenue bill ? 

60. Where must all bills for revenue originate, in Parliament? 

61. Can the Lords amend a revenue bill ? 

62. What power does this give to the Commons ? 

63. State the mode of passing a law. 

61. What advantage may result from the qualified veto poa* 
sessed by the President ? 

65. Has the King of England an absolute negative ? 

68. What must be done with every order and resolution of 
Congress ? 

67. What was the provision intended to prevent? 


CHAPTER XII. 

1. What is the power of Congress as to Taxation? 

2. For what purposes may Congress lay and collect taxes? 

8. Why can not Congress lay a higher tax in New York than 
In Maryland ? 

4. Why could not Congress raise money to aid foreign nations? 

5. What are Taxes ? 

6. Wliat are Imposts? 

7. What Excises ? 

8. What are Duties ? 

9. Can Congress impose duties for the purpose of protecting 
domestic industry ? 



QUESTIONS. 279 

1C. What evidence of this is found in the preamble to the first 
Act of the first Congress ? 

11. Wiiat do decisions of the Supreme Court show? 

12. What department of the Government can borrow money ? 

13. Why should Congress have this power? 

14. What is the power of Congress as to commerce? 

15. Why should Congress have this power? 

16. What power does it involve? 

17. What is an Embargo? 

18. Show that Congress has power to lay an embargo. 

19. What are Navigation Laws ? 

20. What evils would follow if the States had power to regulate 
commerce ? 

21. What are Naturalization Laws? 

22. Where is the power to pass such laws vested ? 

23. What are Bankrupt Laws? 

24. Why should Congress have exclusive power to pass such 
laws ? 

25. What is said of Insolvent Laws passed by State Legislatures ? 

26. What is the provision of the Constitution relative to coin¬ 
age, weights and measures, &c. ? 

27. Why should these powers be vested in' Congress ? 

28. How may post-offices and post-road be established? 

29. What are Copyright and Patent Laws? 

30. Why should power to pass such laws be possessed by Con* 
gress, and not by the State Legislatures ? 

31. What power has Congress as to piracy and offences against 
the Law of Nations? 

32. Where is the power to to declare war vested ? 

33. What are Letters of Marque and Reprisal ? 

34. By whom may armies be raised and supported ? 

35. Why the provision forbidding Congress from making an 
appropriation for a longer term than two years? 

36. By whom may a navy be established ? 

37. For what purpose, and by whom, may the militia be called 
out? 

38. Who is to decide when the danger is sufficient to justify 
calling forth the militia ? 

39. What power does Congress possess over the seat of govern¬ 
ment, and other territory purchased for forts, &c. ? 

40. Why should Congress possess this power ? 

41. What general power is given to Congress? 

42. What clause in the Constitution gives Congress power to 
charter National Banks? 

43. State facts connected with the charter of the first National 
Bank. 

44. State facts connected with the second National Bank. 

45. State the main argument in favor of the constitutionality 
of a law chartering a bank of the United States. 


280 


QUESTIONS. 


48. Has tlie question been before the Supreme Court ? 

47. When was the act, authorizing the National Banks now in 
existence, passed? 


CHAPTER XIII. 

1. Up to what date did the Constitution prohibit laws for abol 
lahing the slave trade ? 

2. Why this prohibition? 

3 When may the Writ of Habeas Corpus be suspended ? 

4. Explain what is meant by a Writ of Habeas Corpus . 

5. Who is to decide when the public safety requires the Writ 
to be suspended ? 

6. What is a Bill of Attainder ? 

7. Why should not Congress have power to pass such a bill? 

8. What is an Ex Post Facto Law ? 

9. What is a Capitation Tax ? 

10. In what proportion must such taxes be laid ? 

11. What provision of the Constitution requires Congress to 
treat the States with equal justice? 

12. How can money be drawn from the Treasury ? 

13. Can Congress grant a title of nobility ? 

14. Can a State grant a title of nobility? 

15. Why this prohibition? 

18. Why are officers of the United States prohibited from ac¬ 
cepting any present or title from a foreign Power ? 

17. State the constitutional prohibitions on the States? 

18. What is meant by Bills of Credit? 

19. May the States borrow money and issue bonds ? 

20. What is a “ tender ”? 

21. Can Congress make any thing except gold and silver a legal 
tender ? 

22. Illustrate what is meant by a bill impairing the obligation 
of contracts. 

23. Is a charter a contract? 

24. Are the State insolvent laws consistent with the provision 
respecting impairing the obligation of contracts ? 

25. For what purposes may a State impose duties? 

26. Why are the States prohibited from keeping troops, ships 
of war, and making treaties with other nations ? 

27. May Virginia enter ^into a league with Maryland? Why 
not? 

28. What powers did the Constitution confer on Congress ? 

29. What powers were reserved to the States? 



QUESTIONS. 


281 


CHAPTER XIV. 

1. Where is the Executive power vested ? 

2. Show that a single is better than a plural Executive. 

3. What is the President’s term of office? 

4. What can be said in favor of that term ? 

5. What objections could be brought against a longer term? 

6. Can the President be re-elected ? 

7. What can be said in favor of this provision ? 

8. For how long a period is the Vice-President chosen? 

9. What events have shown that the office of Vice-Presiden 
is a very important one ? 

10. By whom are President and Vice-President chosen ? 

11. How many electors does each State appoint? 

12. What persons are excluded from being electors ? 

13. What power has Congress in regard to the electors? 

14. Why does the Constitution provide that the day of election 
must be uniform throughout the United States? 

15. What persons are eligible to the office of President? 

16. Why should the President be a native-born citizen? 

17. Why should he be thirty-five years old ? 

18. Why the provision as to residence ? 

19. State the mode in which the President and Vice-President 
are chosen. 

20. What Presidents were chosen by the House of Representa¬ 
tives? 

21. What is done when the office of President becomes vacant 
by death or removal ? 

* 22. What Vice-Presidents have thus become Presidents? 

23. What is done when there is no Vice-President? 

24. What is the provision of the Constitution in regard to 
compensation of the President ? 

25. What is the salary of the President ? 

26. What oath or affirmation is required of him ? 


CHAPTER XV. 

1. State some of the powers conferred on the President by the 
Constitution. 

2. Why should the military power of the nation be under the 
control of the President ? 

3. What prevents his being a military despot ? 

4. Where is the pardoning power vested ? 

5. Why should there be a pardoning power ? 



282 


QUESTIONS. 


G. What limitation is tliere td tlie power of the President to 
grant pardons ? 

7. Where is the treaty-making power vested ? 

8. By whom are ambassadors and officers of the United States 
appointed ? 

9. What provision is made for the appointment of inferioi 
officers? 

10. Why is the treaty-making power given to the President and 
Senate, instead of Congress? 

11. By whom are treaties negotiated ? 

12. When are they laid before the Senate? 

13. Is the President bound to ratify a treaty if the Senate ap¬ 
prove it ? 

14. By whom must the money necessary to carry a treaty into 
effect be voted ? 

15. Have the Representatives a right to withhold the appropri 
ation, if they do not approve the treaty ? 

16. What debate on this subject is mentioned? 

17. On whom does the English Constitution confer the powei 
to declare war and make peace ? 

18. Suppose the House of Commons do not approve of a declar* 
ation of war by the King ? 

19. Who appoints the officers of the English government ? 

20. What benefits may result from the provision requiring the 
conseht of the Senate to the appointments of the President ? 

21. What is an Ambassador ? 

22. What is a Consul ? 

23. Where i3 the power of removal from office vested ? 

24. By whom has that power been heretofore exercised ? 

25. What is done In case of vacancies occurring during the recess 
of the Senate? 

2G. How may this power be abused ? 

27. In what way is it customary for the President to make his 
jommunications to Congress? 

28. When may the President convene and adjourn Congress? 

29. Who has power to receive ambassadors? 

30. Show that this is an important power. 

31. What is the duty of the President as to the laws? 

32. How may the President be removed from office? 

33. How may all civil officers be removed ? 

34. What is meant by “ civil officers ”? 

35. Where is the executive power of the Englisn government 
vested ? 

36. Who perform all executive acts ? 

37. What is meant by “ the administration ”? 

38. What determines the political character of the administra 
tion ? 

39. When is it customary for ministers to resign ? 

40. Who is commander-in-chief of the army and navy? 


QUESTIONS, 


283 


41. By whom are the judges appointed? 

42. Wliat is the Privy Council ? 

43. What power has the Privy Council ? 


CHAPTER XVI. 

1. What is the office of the Judiciary? 

2. Where is the judicial power of the United States vested? 

8 . When and how were the National Courts organized ? 

4. Name the three national courts. 

5. Of what does the Supreme Court consist ? 

6 . When and where are its sessions held ? 

7. How many Judicial Circuits are there ? 

8 . Who are the Circuit Judges ? 

9. What are the District Courts ? 

10. What are the officers of the national courts ? 

11. What is the duty of the Attorney-General? 

12. What is the duty of the District Attorney ? 

13. What is the duty of the Marshal ? 

14. What is the duty of the Clerk ? 

15. How are the Judges appointed ? 

16. What is their Tenure of Office ? 

17. Why should they hold office during good behavior? 

18. Suppose the judge holds his office at the will of a monarch ? 

19. What objection can be urged against an elective judiciary? 

20. What objection can be urged against the tenure of office 
during good behavior? 

21. How is the compensation of the judges fixed? 

22. To what doe 3 the judicial power extend ? 

23. When does a case “ arise ” under the Constitution ? 

24. Give an example. 

25. Give an example of a case arising under a treaty ? 

23. What is meant by Equity Jurisprudence? 

27. What is meant by Admiralty Jurisdiction? 

28. Can the United States bring a suit against an individual ? 

29. Can an individual bring a suit against the United States? 
80. Can citizens of one State bring a suit against another State? 

31. Can foreigners residing in the United States sue in the na¬ 
tional courts? 

32. In what cases has the Supreme Court original jurisdiction? 

33 . What is the principal business of the Supreme Court? 

34 . What provision is made by the Constitution for trial by jury ? 
85. In trials by jury, mention the two kinds of, judges? 

36. Where must one accused of crime be tried? 

37 . How does it appear that Congress can establish tribunals 
inferior to the Supreme Court? 



284 QUESTIONS. 

88 . May appeals be taken from the State Courts to tbe National 
Courts ? 

39. Who was the first Chief-Justice of the United States? 

40. Wha t are the superior courts of England 9 

41. What is the,Court of Chancery? 

42. Name the five superior Courts of Chancery? 

43. What is the highest court of common law in England ? 

44. How many judges has it ? 

45. Of what cases does it take cognizance ? 

4G. Of what does the Court of Common Pleas consist ? 

47. What is its jurisdiction? 

48. What are real actions? 

49. Of what does the Court of Exchequer consist ? 

50. What is said respecting its j urisdiction ? 

51. Which is the highest judicial tribunal in Great Britain? 


CHAPTER XVII. 

1. What is Treason, as defined by the Constitution? 

2. Why is it defined in the Constitution ? 

3. On what testimony can one be convicted of treason? 

4. Who has power to declare the punishment of treason ? 

5. What is the punishment of treason by the common law? 

6 . What is the punishment ordered by Congress? 

7. What is meant by “ corruption of blood ”? 

8 What does the the Constitution say respecting it ? 

9. What is the provision of the Constitution in regard to the 
public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of the States? 

10. To what rights are the citizens of each State entitled in 
other States ? 

11. Suppose a person charged with crime in one State flees to 
another ? 

12. What was the provision of the Constitution as to fugitive 
slaves ? 

13. How may new States be admitted into the Union ? 

14. What limitations are mentioned in the Constitution ? 

15. What is the power of Congress over the Territories ? 

16. Of what do the Territorial governments consist? 

17. What does the Constitution require the United States to 
guarantee to every State jn the Union? 

18. Show how the Constitution may be amended. 

19. Repeat the section containing the supremacy of the Consti 
fcution. 

20. What is required of the National and State officers ? 



QUESTIONS. 


285 


CHAPTEE XVIII. 

1. Wliat is a Bill of Rights ? 

2. What does the first amendment to the Constitution forbid ? 

3. Why should freedom of speech be secured? 

4. What is the difference between freedom of the press and 
Licentiousness of the press? 

5. Whai right does the second article of the Amendments se¬ 
cure? 

6 . What does the third article forbid? 

7. What does the fourth article forbid ? 

8 . What is necessary before one can be tried for a crime ? 

9. What is a Grand Jury? 

10. When is a man said to be indicted? 

11. Why should not a man be tried twice for the same offense? 

12. When and where must one accused of crime be tried? 

13. What privileges are secured to the accused? 

14. What is the. seventh article designed to secure ? 

15. What does the eighth article guard against ? 

16. What does the ninth article guard against ? 

17. What is the tenth article? 

18. What was the design of this amendment ? 

19. What is the thirteenth and last amendment ? 

20. When was the Amendment proposed in Congress ? 

21. When was its ratification by the Legislatures of three-fourtlis 
of the States officially announced ? 


CHAPTEE XIX. 

1 . Which State was the first to form and adopt a constitution ? 

2. What two States continued, after the Declaration, of Inde¬ 
pendence. to use their charters as constitutions ? 

3 . Which was the first new State admitted to the Union after 
the adoption of the Federal Constitution ? 

4. How was the territory out of which Louisiana and other 
State were formed, acquired? 

5. What controversy arose in connection with the application 
of Missouri for admission to the Union? 

6 . How was it settled ? 

7. From what territory was the State *>f Texas formed ? 

8 . How was the territory constituting California acquired ? 

9 . What States were admitted without having previously had 
Territorial governments ? 



286 QUESTIONS. 

10. What was Texas when she applied for admission ? 

It. To what are the Constitutions of all the States similar? 

13. How are the powers of government divided in them all ? 

13. Where is the legislative power vested? 

14. Where is the executive power vested ? 

15. What is said of the judicial systems of the States? 

16. What is said respecting the meeting of the Legislatures? 

17. What is said respecting the appointment of judges? 

18. What is said respecting Chancery courts ? 

19. What is said respecting the jurisdiction of the State courts? 

20. Before what officers do the smaller matters of litigation 
come ? 

21. What is the relation of the State Constitutions to the Con¬ 
stitution of the United States ? 

22. How are the States divided ? 

23. What is a County Seat ? 

24. What political powers are exercised by the Townships into 
which some of the States are divided ? 

25. What an incorporated Borough or City ? 

26. Where is the legislative power possessed by the City of 
New York vested? 

27. Where is the executive power of the City vested ? 

28. How is the Mayor elected ? 

29. What is duty of the Chamberlain of the City ? 

30. Has the City of New York a separate judiciary ? 

31. What is said of all the large Cities in the Union? 


CHAPTER XX. 

1. What is International Law ? 

2. Of what should it consist ? 

3. Of what does it consist ? 

4. What is the remedy in case of violation ? 

5. What is the relation nations sustain to each other? 

6 . Has a nation a right to interfere in the concerns of another 
nation ? 

7. What government is to be recognized by other nations ? 

8 . What effect has a change of government on the treaties and 
obligations of a nation ? 

9. How far does a nation possess exclusive jurisdiction over 
the adjoining sea? 

10. To whom does the open sea belong ? 

11. To whom doe3 a river dividing two countries belong ? 

12. What rights have foreigners residing in a country ? 

13. What persons are not suhgect to the laws of the land in 
which they may sojourn ? 



QUESTION'S. 


287 


14. Why should ambassadors be independent of the jurisdiction 
of the country to which they are sent ? 

15. When are treaties binding? 

16. Suppose one party violates the treaty? 

17. When may a nation resort to war? 

18. Is a formal declaration and notice to the enemy necessary 
before commencing hostilities ? 

19. What is the effect of a state of war on the commercial inter 
course of the citizens of the countries at war ? 

20. What is said of debts due the subjects of an enemy? 

21. What is said of an enemy’s property at sea? 

22. What is said of property sailing under the flag of an enemy 1 

23. What is said of Privateering ? 

24. What must be done with all captured property ? 

25. What is said respecting neutral nations? 

26. What articles are neutrals prohibited from carrying ? 

27. To what does the attempt to violate a blockade subject the 
vessel and cargo ? 

28. What is said respecting hostile dispatches ? 

29. What is said of the Right of Search ? 

30. What is a Truce ?, 

31. What is a Treaty ? 

32. What is said of Piracy ? 

33. What is said of the Slave Trade ? 

34. What is said respecting the recognition of international law 1 


CHAPTER XXI. 

1. What is the Divine Law ? 

2. What is Constitutional Law ? 

3. What is International Law? 

4. What is Municipal Law ? 

5. What is Statute Law ? 

C. What is the Common Law ? 

7. How far is the Common Law the law of the land in tha 
United States? 

8 . What is the Civil Law ? 

9. What is the Code ? 

10. What are the Institutes ? 

11 . What are the Pandects ? 

12 . What are the Novels of Justinian? 

13. What is the Canon Law? 

14. What is Martial Law? 

15. What is Parliamentary Law ? 



INDEX 


A. 

Fi.53 

Absolute Monarchy. 25 

Adjournment of Congress,. 109 

Admiralty Courts,. 180 

Admission of New States,.. <.... 194 

Admission of States,. 209 

Adoption of the Constitution,. 70 

Ambassadors,. 165 

Annapolis Convention,. 53 

Appeals from State Courts,. 186 

Appellate Jurisdiction,... 185 

Appointments to Office,. 164 

Aristocracy,. 26 

Articles of Confederation,. 44 

B. 

« 

Bank of the United States,. ISO 

Bankrupt Law,.. ,.* *. *. 122 


















INDEX. 


289 


IMG* 

Bill of Attainder,. 135 

Bills of Credit,. 139 

Blockade,. 229 

C. 

Canon Law,. 237 

Captures at Sea,. 226 

Charter Governments,. 39 

City Government,. 217 

Civil Law,. 235 

Civil Society defined,. 9 

Common Law,. 234 

Compact of the Pilgrims,. 35 

Compensation of the President,. 157 

Confiscation of Private Property. 226 

Constitution defined,. 30 

Constitution not a League,. 78 

Constitutional Amendments,. 195 

Consuls,. 165 

Continental Congress. 41 

Counties,. 216 

Court of Chancery,. 187 

D. 

Declaring War,.. 126 

Defects of the Confederation,. 49 

Democracy,. 27 

Direct Taxes,. 91 


























290 


INDEX. 


PAGB 

District of Columbia,. 12S> 

Divine Law to be Obeyed,. 32 

Divine Origin of Government,. 13 

Duties of Neutrals,. 228 


Election by House of Representatives,. 156 

Election of President,. 153 

Elective Monarchy,. 26 

English Cabinet,. 169 

English Executive,. 169 

English Government,. 2*7 

Equality of Nations,. 221 

Executive Department,. 146 

Expost facto Laws,. 135 


F. 


Federal Convention,. 55 

Foreigners,. 223 

Forms of Government,. 24 

Franklin’s Remarks in Convention,. 64 

Freedom of Speech and the Press,. 200 

Fugitive Slaves,.. 194 


G. 


Government of Massachusetts,. S7 

Government of Plymouth,. 85 
























INDEX, 


291 


PAGH 

Governors of the States,. 214 

Grand Jury,. 203 

Guarantee of Republican Government,. v... 19 

H. 

Habeas Corpus,. 134 

Hamilton’s Plan of Government,. 63 

Hamilton’s Remarks on the Constitution,. 69 

House of Commons,. 89 

House of Lords,. 100 

I. 

Impairing Contracts,. 142 

Impeachment,. 94 

Imposts laid by a State. 143 

International Law,. 220 

J. 

Journals of Congress,. 107 

Judges appointed,. 176 

Judicial Circuits,. 174 

Judicial Department,. 172 

Judicial Power of the Senate,. '101 

Jurisdiction of State Courts,. 215 

Jurisdiction of U. S. Courts,. 178 

Justices of the Peace,. 215 























292 


INDEX. 


L. 

PAMl 

Legal Tender,. 140 

Legislative Power vested in Congress,. 85 

Letters of Marque,. 126 

Liberty and Law,. 21 

Limited Monarchy,. 25 

Lord High Chancellor,. 101 

M. 

Mackintosh’s Definition of Liberty,. 23 

Madison’s Testimony,. 56 

Man subject to Law,. 17 

Martial Law,... 239 

Messages of the President,. 167 

Mode of passing Laws,. 112 

Monarchical Titles,. 25 

Money drawn from the Treasury,. 137 

Moral Law,. 233 

Municipal Law,. 234 

N. 

Navigation Laws. 120 

O . 

Oath to support the Constitution,. 197 

Object of Government,. 9 






















index. 293 

PAG! 

Officers liable to Impeachment,. 168 

Organization of U. S. Courts, . 173 

Origin of Civil Society,. 1 

P. 

Pardoning Power,. 160 

Parliamentary Law,. 238 

People not Infallible,. 29 

Pinckney’s Plan of Government,. 59 

Powers of Congress,. 115 

Preamble to the Constitution,..... 77 

Privateering,.... ...... 227 

Privileges of Ambassadors,. 223 

Privileges of Congress,. 109 

Privy Council,. 170 

Prohibition of the Slave Trade,. 133 

Proprietary Governments,. 38 

Protective Tariff,. 116 

Provincial Governments, .. 38 

Purchase of Louisiana,. 210 

Q. 

Qualifications of the President,. 152 

Qualifications of Representatives,. 89 

Qualifications of Senators,. 98 

R. 

Randolph’s Plan of Government,.. 58 

Ratification of Treaties,... *.. 153 

























294 


INDEX. 


PAG* 

Religious Liberty,. 199 

Removal from Office,. 165 

Representative Instructions,... 28 

Right of Petition,. 201 

Right of Revolution,. 34 

Right of Search,. 280 

ft 

S. 

Senate,. 96 

Slavery abolished,. 206 

Sovereign Power,. 13 

Speaker of the House,. 94 

Stamped Act,. 40 

State Constitutions,. 208 

Statute Law,. 234 

Suflrage,. 16 

Superior Court of England,. 187 

T. 

Territories,. 194 

Theories of Representation,. 28 

The State,. 11 

Titles of Nobility,. 137 

Townships,»,.*. 217 

Treason,. 19C 

Treaties forbidden to the States. 138 

Treaty-making Powor,. 161 

























INDEX. 


295 


PAGB 

TrialbyJury,. 184 

Truces,.. 231 

v. 

Vacancies provided for,. 94 

7 eto Power,... US 

fioe-Preaident,.. ...» ... ... 99 










































• * * - T 



















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